Fish gut bacteria found eating breakdown products of plastic waste
Sandholm RM, Rojas Calderón D, Hansen MT, Chowreddy RR, Vaaje-Kolstad G
Phytoremediation
The same waterways that feed your local wetland plants and irrigation ditches are accumulating microplastic fragments, and this discovery points toward biological cleanup tools that could one day protect the soil and water systems your garden depends on.
Researchers discovered a bacterium living in the gut of Atlantic salmon that can actually eat pieces of broken-down plastic, specifically the small oily fragments left over after sunlight and heat degrade polyethylene (the most common plastic). The microbe uses special enzymes to munch through these fragments and even builds a biofilm and soap-like substance to help it get a grip on its plastic meal. This is one of the first clear looks at how gut bacteria in wild fish might help nature slowly chip away at plastic pollution.
Key Findings
Rhodococcus strain ASF-10, isolated from salmon gut, grew on low-molecular-weight polyethylene derivatives and depleted alkanes and 2-ketones from the substrate, though the polymer backbone itself remained unchanged
Proteomic analysis identified alkane 1-monooxygenase and cytochrome P450 hydroxylase enzymes, plus biofilm and surfactant proteins, as likely drivers of the degradation process
The bacterium was found to be metabolically active in real salmon gut samples via metatranscriptomic data, suggesting this plastic-degrading activity happens in living fish, not just in lab dishes
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a bacterium living in salmon guts that can break down chemical fragments left over from degraded plastic, offering a possible new tool for cleaning up microplastic pollution in waterways.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Biodegradation of components from an oxidized polyethylene by a Rhodococcus strain isolated from the gut of Atlantic salmon.
Polyethylene (PE) is the most produced synthetic polymer and, consequently, a major source of microplastic waste accumulating globally. Exposure to photo- and thermo-oxidative conditions in the env...
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