Soil bacterium enzyme shows promise for breaking down PET plastic
Bhatt S, Akhter Y, Chatterjee S
Soil Health
Plastic fragments from bottles and polyester mulch fabrics end up in garden soil, and enzymes from soil microbes like this one could eventually help clean them up.
Scientists used computer simulations to study an enzyme from a soil bacterium that already digests plastic-softening chemicals. The models show the enzyme fits pieces of PET plastic snugly and holds them in just the right position to snip them apart. Nobody has tested it in a real lab dish yet, so it's a promising lead rather than a finished solution.
Key Findings
Docking showed PET fragments and the breakdown products BHET and MHET fit the same active site, positioned for attack by a Ser215-His418-Glu332 catalytic triad with Gly217 stabilizing the reaction.
A 500 ns molecular dynamics simulation showed the enzyme-substrate complex stayed stable, with a binding free energy of -14.03 kcal/mol driven mainly by van der Waals interactions.
The enzyme shares the α/β-hydrolase fold and GXSXG motif with known PET-degrading enzymes from Thermobifida fusca and Streptomyces exfoliatus, and DFT calculations indicated an electronically preorganized catalytic center.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Computer modeling suggests an enzyme from a soil bacterium that eats phthalates could break down PET plastic, the material in water bottles and polyester. It's a candidate for future lab testing, not a proven plastic-eater yet.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Structural analysis of Sphingobium yanoikuyae P4 carboxylesterase reveals conformational and catalytic determinants for PET biodegradation.
The accumulation of poorly biodegradable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the environment has become an emerging ecological and health problem, with a strong need to develop environmentally frie...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Nanoplastics interfere with plant-mycorrhizal communication and limit plant growth.
Microplastics breaking down in your garden soil are quietly strangling the beneficial fungi that help your vegetables absorb phosphorus and other nutrients, ...
Plastic biodegradation is the biological breakdown of synthetic polymers into simpler compounds through the action of living organisms, including microbes, fungi, and enzymes. In plant science, this field intersects with research into rhizosphere microbial communities and plant-associated organisms
arrow_forward Explore topic