Polyester-degrading actinomycetes isolated from the Touchien River of Taiwan

Comparing environmental fate and ecotoxicity of conventional and biodegradable plastics: A critical review

Plastic pollution is a consequential problem worldwide, prompting the widespread use of biodegradable plastics (BPs). However, not all BPs are completely degradable under natural conditions, but instead produce biodegradable microplastics (BMPs), release chemical additives, and absorb micropollutants, thus causing toxicity to living organisms in similar manners to conventional plastics (CPs). The new problems caused by biodegradable plastics cannot be ignored and requires a thorough comparison of the differences between conventional and biodegradable plastics and microplastics. This review comprehensively compares their environmental fates, such as biodegradation and micropollutant sorption, and ecotoxicity in soil and water environments. The results showed that it is difficult to determine the natural conditions required for the complete biodegradation of BPs. Some chemical additives in BPs differ from those in CPs and may pose new threats to ecosystems. Because of functional group differences, most BMPs had higher micropollutant sorption capacities than conventional microplastics (CMPs). The ecotoxicity comparison showed that BMPs had similar or even greater adverse effects than CMPs. This review highlights several knowledge gaps in this new field and suggests directions for future studies.

Production and waste treatment of polyesters: application of bioresources and biotechniques

Chemical resources and techniques have long been used in the history of bulk polyester production and still dominate today's chemical industry. The sustainable development of the polyester industry demands more renewable resources and environmentally benign polyester products. Accordingly, the rapid development of biotechnology has enabled the production of an extensive range of aliphatic and aromatic polyesters from renewable bio-feedstocks. This review addresses the production of representative commercial polyesters (polyhydroxyalkanoates, polylactic acid, poly ε-caprolactone, polybutylene succinate, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polyethylene furandicarboxylate, polypropylene furandicarboxylate, and polybutylene furandicarboxylate) or their monomers (lactic acid, succinic acid, 1,4-butanediol, ethylene glycol, terephthalic acid, 1,3-propanediol, and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid) from renewable bioresources. In addition, this review summarizes advanced biotechniques in the treatment of polyester wastes, representing the near-term trends and future opportunities for waste-to-value recycling and the remediation of polyester wastes under sustainable models. For future prospects, it is essential to further expand: non-food bioresources, optimize bioprocesses and biotechniques in the preparation of bioderived or biodegradable polyesters with promising: material performance, biodegradability, and low production cost.

Streptomyces as Potential Synthetic Polymer Degraders: A Systematic Review

The inherent resistance of synthetic plastics to degradation has led to an increasing challenge of waste accumulation problem and created a pollution issue that can only be addressed with novel complementary methods such as biodegradation. Since biocontrol is a promising eco-friendly option to address this challenge, the identification of suitable biological agents is a crucial requirement. Among the existing options, organisms of the Streptomyces genus have been reported to biodegrade several complex polymeric macromolecules such as chitin, lignin, and cellulose. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the potential of Streptomyces strains for the biodegradation of synthetic plastics. The results showed that although Streptomyces strains are widely distributed in different ecosystems in nature, few studies have explored their capacity as degraders of synthetic polymers. Moreover, most of the research in this field has focused on Streptomyces strains with promising biotransforming potential against polyethylene-like polymers. Our findings suggest that this field of study is still in the early stages of development. Moreover, considering the diverse ecological niches associated with Streptomyces, these actinobacteria could serve as complementary agents for plastic waste management and thereby enhance carbon cycle dynamics.

Statistical augmentation of polyhydroxybutyrate production by Isoptericola variabilis: Characterization, moulding, in vitro cytocompatibility and biodegradability evaluation

This study aimed to explore the production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which has been widely considered as a potential substitute for the synthetic polymers. Among 53 actinomycete isolates, 11 of them were found to be PHB positive and the quantity of PHB from the positive isolates varied from 10.5 to 29.82 wt% on a dry cell weight basis. A strain designated as PPLAT 012, accumulated relatively higher PHB and has been identified as Isoptericola variabilis by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. An effort has also been made to optimize the PHB production by the hyper-producing strain using the conventional, one-factor-at-a-time, and statistical response surface methodologies and the maximum PHB production (46.18%) in DSMZ medium, amended with 12% glucose and 9% potassium nitrate with a pH of 7.0. Further, the characteristic properties such as processability, cytocompatibility and biodegradability of the extracted PHB was also demonstrated. The physical properties of the recovered PHB was further improved by blending with PLA and the resultant blends were characterized. The present investigation has demonstrated that the isolate, Isoptericola variabilis, could be utilized as a potential source for the production of PHB with desirable characteristics, suitable for biomedical applications.

Biodegradation of bioplastics in natural environments

The extensive production of conventional plastics and their use in different commercial applications poses a significant threat to both the fossil fuels sources and the environment. Alternatives called bioplastics evolved during development of renewable resources. Utilizing renewable resources like agricultural wastes (instead of petroleum sources) and their biodegradability in different environments enabled these polymers to be more easily acceptable than the conventional plastics. The biodegradability of bioplastics is highly affected by their physical and chemical structure. On the other hand, the environment in which they are located, plays a crucial role in their biodegradation. This review highlights the recent findings attributed to the biodegradation of bioplastics in various environments, environmental conditions, degree of biodegradation, including the identified bioplastic-degrading microorganisms from different microbial communities.

Isolation and screening of biopolymer-degrading microorganisms from northern Thailand

Forty agricultural soils were collected from Chiang Mai and Lampang provinces in northern Thailand. Bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi were isolated and screened for their ability to degrade polylactic acid (PLA), polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) by the agar diffusion method. Sixty-seven actinomycetes, seven bacteria and five fungal isolates were obtained. The majority of actinomycetes were Streptomyces based on morphological characteristic, chemotaxonomy and 16S rRNA gene data. Seventy-nine microorganisms were isolated from 40 soil samples. Twenty-six isolates showed PLA-degradation (32.9 %), 44 isolates showed PBS-degradation (55.7 %) and 58 isolates showed PCL-degradation (73.4 %). Interestingly, 16 isolates (20.2 %) could degrade all three types of bioplastics used in this study. The Amycolatopsis sp. strain SCM_MK2-4 showed the highest enzyme activity for both PLA and PCL, 0.046 and 0.023 U/mL, respectively. Moreover, this strain produced protease, esterase and lipase on agar plates. Approximately, 36.7 % of the PLA film was degraded by Amycolatopsis sp. SCM_MK2-4 after 7 days of cultivation at 30 °C in culture broth.

The chitinolytic activities of Streptomyces sp. TH-11

Chitin is an abundant biopolymer composed of units of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine linked by β-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Chitin is the main component of the shells of mollusks, the cell wall of fungi and yeast and of the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects. The degradation of chitin is catalyzed by chitinases that occur in a wide range of organisms. Among them, the chitinases from microorganisms are extremely important for the degradation and recycling of the carbon and nitrogen trapped in the large amount of insoluble chitin in nature. Streptomyces sp. TH-11 was isolated from the sediment of the Tou-Chien River, Taiwan. The chitinolytic enzyme activities were detected using a rapid in-gel detection method from the cell-free preparation of the culture medium of TH-11. The chitinolytic enzyme activity during prolonged liquid culturing was also analyzed by direct measurement of the chitin consumption. Decomposition of the exoskeleton of shrimps was demonstrated using electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

Polyester-degrading thermophilic actinomycetes isolated from different environment in Taiwan

Thermophilic actinomycetes strains were isolated from various environment in Taiwan and screened for degradation of poly(ethylene succinate) (PES), poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) and/or poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) by the clear-zone method. Out of 341 strains of thermophilic actinomycetes, 105 isolates were PHB-degraders (30.8%), 198 isolates were PCL-decomposers (58.1%), and 99 isolates could degrade PES (29.0%). Furthermore, 77 isolates could degrade both PHB and PCL (22.6%), 35 isolates could degrade both PHB and PES (10.3%), 81 isolates could degrade both PES and PCL (23.8%) and 31 isolates could degrade the three polyesters used in this study (9.1%). Base on the morphological and chemical characteristics, these 31 isolates belonging to Actinomadura (12.9%), Microbispora (25.8%), Streptomyces (48.4%), Thermoactinomyces (9.7%) and Saccharomonospora genus (3.22%).