Bacterial enzyme rapidly clears leftover plastic-bottle breakdown chemicals
Bounabi H, Yahiaoui B, Gasmi M, Mechouche MS, Bäse N
Phytoremediation
The compost pile and soil microbes in your backyard are part of the same world of bacterial enzymes that researchers are mining to tackle the plastic waste piling up in landfills and waterways near the plants you grow.
When plastic bottles start breaking down, they don't just disappear, they leave behind sticky intermediate chemicals called BHET and MHET that still need to be cleaned up. Researchers found a bacterial enzyme, from a soil bacterium called Bacillus halotolerans, that's remarkably fast at finishing that cleanup job, turning a large batch of these leftover chemicals into harmless building blocks in under a day. It's not yet good at breaking down solid plastic itself, but it fills an important gap in the plastic recycling toolkit.
Key Findings
The enzyme BhEstB completely converted 50 mM BHET within 1 hour at 30°C (kcat = 15.57 s⁻1, Km = 6.54 mM)
It broke down 77% of 39.8 mM MHET into terephthalic acid within 24 hours, outperforming engineered LCCICCG and feruloyl esterase PET46
BhEstB shows only modest activity on solid PET plastic powder, making it specialized for intermediate breakdown products rather than the bulk polymer
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a bacterial enzyme that breaks down the sticky intermediate chemicals left over when plastic bottles (PET) start to degrade, converting them into basic building blocks within hours. It's not great at chewing through solid plastic yet, but it's one of the fastest enzymes known at cleaning up the breakdown byproducts.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
A versatile Bacillus esterase reveals a carboxylesterase blueprint for PET intermediate degradation.
The biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and its derived intermediate breakdown products, represents a core focus of multidisciplinary research. While Ideonella sakaiensis PETase (Is...
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