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Cited by 944Microplastics and Plastic PollutionMicrobial bioremediation and biosurfactantsbiodegradable polymer synthesis and properties

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 127 of the 128 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Plastics: Environmental and Biotechnological Perspectives on Microbial Degradation

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Danso, Dominik, Chow, Jennifer, Streit, Wolfgang R.·2019·Applied and Environmental Microbiology
DOI 10.1128/aem.01095-19PMC PMC6752018
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Abstract

Plastics are widely used in the global economy, and each year, at least 350 to 400 million tons are being produced. Due to poor recycling and low circular use, millions of tons accumulate annually in terrestrial or marine environments. Today it has become clear that plastic causes adverse effects in all ecosystems and that microplastics are of particular concern to our health.

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Crossref · 10.1128/aem.01095-19

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127 of 127 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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FIG 1 Main synthetic polymers globally produced in 2016. Numbers in the chart indicate the global annual production (millions of tons) of the specified synthetic polymer. Global annual plastic production was extracted from references 1–4, and https://www.plasticsinsight.com/global-pet-resin-production-capacity, https://www.plasticsinsight.com/resin-intelligence/resin-prices/polyamide/, and https://www.plasticsinsight.com/world-plastics-production/. Monomers are depicted above the chart. Indicated are the names of bacterial genera producing verified enzymes with available protein sequences that are known to be involved in the breakdown of the high-molecular-weight polymers (not the additives, plasticizers, etc.). For detailed references on the individual enzymes, refer to the main text. For PA, PE, PS, PVC, and PP, no defined enzymes that act on the polymer have been identified at the level of amino acid or DNA sequences. For enzymes acting on dimers or oligomers and feeding them into the different metabolic pathways, see the main text. For additional structural information on the polymers we refer to ChEBI (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/init.do).
FIG 1 Main synthetic polymers globally produced in 2016. Numbers in the chart indicate the global annual production (millions of tons) of the specified synthetic polymer. Global annual plastic production was extracted from references 1–4, and https://www.plasticsinsight.com/global-pet-resin-production-capacity, https://www.plasticsinsight.com/resin-intelligence/resin-prices/polyamide/, and https://www.plasticsinsight.com/world-plastics-production/. Monomers are depicted above the chart. Indicated are the names of bacterial genera producing verified enzymes with available protein sequences that are known to be involved in the breakdown of the high-molecular-weight polymers (not the additives, plasticizers, etc.). For detailed references on the individual enzymes, refer to the main text. For PA, PE, PS, PVC, and PP, no defined enzymes that act on the polymer have been identified at the level of amino acid or DNA sequences. For enzymes acting on dimers or oligomers and feeding them into the different metabolic pathways, see the main text. For additional structural information on the polymers we refer to ChEBI (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/init.do).CC BY · PubMed Central
FIG 2 (A) Electron microscopic images of Comamonas sp. strain DDHH 01 attached and hydrolyzing PET fibers. Comamonas sp. DDHH 01 was isolated from a sewage enrichment culture. Red arrows indicate PET fibers. Black and white arrows indicate bacterial cells. (Top) Transmission electron microscopy image of a PET fiber with attached Comamonas sp. cells. (Middle) Scanning electron microscope image of PET yarn with microcolonies. (Bottom) Closeup of a single cell on the surface of a single PET fiber. (B) Topology of a neighbor-joining tree containing representative sequences of most of the currently known synthetic polymer- or oligomer/monomer-degrading enzymes. The tree is based on amino acid sequence homologies. Overall, 27 known functional and verified enzymes were included in this alignment. This represents the majority of the currently known and biochemically characterized enzymes. PET hydrolases represent the largest fraction of known and studied enzymes. The alignment was calculated using T-Coffee in accurate mode (124). The tree was calculated with Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6 (MEGA6) (125) and is not rooted. A similarity and identity matrix for all included sequences, together with their accession numbers, is provided in the supplemental material (Table S1).
FIG 2 (A) Electron microscopic images of Comamonas sp. strain DDHH 01 attached and hydrolyzing PET fibers. Comamonas sp. DDHH 01 was isolated from a sewage enrichment culture. Red arrows indicate PET fibers. Black and white arrows indicate bacterial cells. (Top) Transmission electron microscopy image of a PET fiber with attached Comamonas sp. cells. (Middle) Scanning electron microscope image of PET yarn with microcolonies. (Bottom) Closeup of a single cell on the surface of a single PET fiber. (B) Topology of a neighbor-joining tree containing representative sequences of most of the currently known synthetic polymer- or oligomer/monomer-degrading enzymes. The tree is based on amino acid sequence homologies. Overall, 27 known functional and verified enzymes were included in this alignment. This represents the majority of the currently known and biochemically characterized enzymes. PET hydrolases represent the largest fraction of known and studied enzymes. The alignment was calculated using T-Coffee in accurate mode (124). The tree was calculated with Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6 (MEGA6) (125) and is not rooted. A similarity and identity matrix for all included sequences, together with their accession numbers, is provided in the supplemental material (Table S1).CC BY · PubMed Central

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2017. The new plastics economy: rethinking the future of plastics and catalysing action. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Cowes, United Kingdom.
  2. 10.1016/S0378-1097(02)00473-1 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Danso, D., Chow, J., & Streit, W. R.
Affiliations
Universität Hamburg (DE)
Corresponding author
Streit, Wolfgang R.
ORCID
Venue
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Published
2019-10
Volume
85
Issue
19
ISSN
  • 0099-2240 (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-5336
DOI
10.1128/aem.01095-19
PMC
PMC6752018
OpenAlex
W2974748521
Cited by
918
References
128
Citations by year
2026: 149 · 2025: 140 · 2024: 148 · 2023: 155 · 2022: 140 · 2021: 123 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 5
FWCI
3.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Applied and Environmental Microbiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (FKZ 031A565)
  • EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (FKZ 031B0571B)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microbial bioremediation and biosurfactants
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
Keywords
plastic biodegradation, plastic pollution, microplastics, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, plastic-degrading enzymes, high molecular weight polymers, plastic recycling, metagenomics, biocatalysts, marine plastic pollution
MeSH terms
Biodegradation, Environmental, Biotechnology, Environmental Monitoring, Enzymes, Plastics, Ecosystem, Metagenome, Recycling, Microbiota

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