Polymer industry waste, can microbes degrade it?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: School of Life Sciences
Abstract
Anthropogenic pollution by industrial waste is both ubiquitous and well-characterised. An area of this that has recently received increasing attention is ocean plastic pollution. Pollution of the oceans by synthetic polymers, such as plastics, is now widespread and current estimates put the annual input of plastic waste into the ocean at 4.8 to 12.7 million tons. Much of this plastic waste is known to exist as microplastics (plastics <5 mm). Microplastics may enter the ocean via a number of routes, for example: i) accidental release during the manufacturing process of larger plastics (plastic resin pellets); ii) plastics specifically manufactured to be small (i.e. in facial cleansers/exfoliators); or iii) breakdown of larger plastics.
Bacterial strains that are capable of the degradation of plastics have been isolated from environmental samples, however, it has been found previously that a bacterial consortia, or community, may be better at degrading plastic than an individual strain. Artificial selection - the application of a pressure on organisms to induce the expression of desirable traits - has been used to evolve bacterial communities that are better able to breakdown contaminants than their environmental counterparts.
The project will focus on evolving a microbial community for the degradation of synthetic polymers and characterising the communities that are evolved. The aim of this is to determine whether an artificially evolved microbial community may be better at degrading polymers than either the original environmental community or individual bacterial strains known to be capable of polymer degradation.
Bacterial strains that are capable of the degradation of plastics have been isolated from environmental samples, however, it has been found previously that a bacterial consortia, or community, may be better at degrading plastic than an individual strain. Artificial selection - the application of a pressure on organisms to induce the expression of desirable traits - has been used to evolve bacterial communities that are better able to breakdown contaminants than their environmental counterparts.
The project will focus on evolving a microbial community for the degradation of synthetic polymers and characterising the communities that are evolved. The aim of this is to determine whether an artificially evolved microbial community may be better at degrading polymers than either the original environmental community or individual bacterial strains known to be capable of polymer degradation.
Organisations
Publications
Erni-Cassola G
(2020)
Early Colonization of Weathered Polyethylene by Distinct Bacteria in Marine Coastal Seawater.
in Microbial ecology
Wright R
(2019)
Food or a free ride? The ability of a marine microbial community to degrade plastics
in Access Microbiology
Wright R
(2019)
Bacterial coping mechanisms for aging: using an individual-based model to study aging in biofilms
in Access Microbiology
Wright R
(2020)
Damage Repair Versus Aging in Biofilms
Wright RJ
(2019)
Understanding microbial community dynamics to improve optimal microbiome selection.
in Microbiome
Wright RJ
(2020)
Plasticizer Degradation by Marine Bacterial Isolates: A Proteogenomic and Metabolomic Characterization.
in Environmental science & technology
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BB/M01116X/1 | 30/09/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
1643043 | Studentship | BB/M01116X/1 | 04/10/2015 | 29/09/2019 | Robyn Wright |
Description | The aim of this project is to determine whether marine microorganisms can degrade polymer industry waste, such as plastics and also plasticisers. The method that has been applied for this is artificial selection of microbial communities for polymer degradation. An initial 'proof of concept' experiment has been carried out using the natural polymer, chitin. Chitin is already known to be degraded by a wide range of marine microorganisms, and high throughput enzyme activity assays already exist to test the potential for communities to degrade chitin. This experiment showed that it is possible to artificially select microbial communities for polymer degradation, but that microbial community structure must be taken into consideration; if left for too long, community succession leads to non-optimal communities. When this method was applied to the common packaging plastic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), we found that the amount of time needed for growth of these microbial communities between selection events meant that this method was not feasible. We therefore instead characterised the microbial community that was growing with PET at different time points, finding that there were bacteria present that were potentially capable of PET degradation. I then moved on to identify the enzymes and pathways used by these bacteria for PET degradation, using a multi-OMIC approach. The third part of my PhD thesis was to identify bacteria capable of the degradation of plastic additives, plasticisers. I isolated 42 bacteria capable of growth with one or more plasticizer, and then used two of these bacteria to characterise the enzymes and pathways used by marine bacteria for plasticizer degradation for the first time. This revealed that different bacteria may use different pathways for this degradation, but the bacteria that are currently colonising marine plastics are capable of plasticizer degradation. |
Exploitation Route | The artificial selection method that I have used and developed has not previously been used for polymers, so others may use it for a wide range of polymers. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
URL | https://pubs-acs-org.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b05228 |
Description | Findings were used to help inform a public science engagement evening aimed at increasing awareness of plastic pollution and strategies to help mitigate the impact of it. |
First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
Description | Microbiology Society Travel Award |
Amount | £250 (GBP) |
Organisation | Microbiology Society |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 04/2019 |
Description | Society Conference Grants |
Amount | £250 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SCG17/433 |
Organisation | Microbiology Society |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2017 |
End | 04/2017 |
Title | Genome sequence |
Description | Genome sequence for Halomonas sp. ATBC28 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A |
URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA525098 |
Title | Genome sequence |
Description | Genome sequence for Mycobacterium sp. DBP42 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A |
URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA525197 |
Title | Sequencing data |
Description | Data to go with published study: Understanding Microbial Community Dynamics to Improve Optimal Microbiome Selection |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | N/A |
URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA499076 |
Description | Article written for Biological Sciences Review |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Invited magazine article titled: Marine Bacteria and the Plastisphere for A Level Biology magazine the Biological Sciences Review. This has led several A Level Biology students to contact me, asking for help with their A Level Extended Project Qualification, university applications, finding summer research placements as well as invitations to talk at schools about marine plastic pollution (although I was unable to do this due to having moved to Canada, I was able to put this student in touch with someone else still in the UK). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/biologicalsciencesreview |
Description | Oceans Open Evening |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An oceans open evening was organised and advertised to the general public. This included approximately 45 minutes of presentations on the importance of the oceans, and in particular marine microorganisms, and then the dangers of plastic pollution. This was followed by approximately 1.5 hours of laboratory tours and informal discussion at interactive stands. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |