News: Researchers have discovered microbes such as Ideonella sakaiensis that show the potential to break down PET plastic.
About Ideonella sakaiensis
- Ideonella sakaiensis belongs to the genus Ideonella and the family Comamonadaceae.
- It is a unique bacterium that can degrade and consume plastic, specifically polyethylene terephthalate (PET), by using it as both a carbon and energy source.
- Ideonella sakaiensis was initially isolated from PET-contaminated soil, which suggests that its natural habitat is the environment where plastic waste is present.
- It thrives in oxygen-rich moist soil and is also found in sewage sludge. This indicates that it adapts well to areas enriched with plastic wastes.
Characteristics
- Ideonella sakaiensis is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium.
- It is motile and moves with the help of a single polar flagellum, making it a monotrichous bacterium.
- It does not produce spores and is non-pigment-producing.
- It produces two enzymes that make it capable of degrading plastic.
- The first enzyme, PETase, breaks down PET into mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid (MHET).
- The second enzyme, MHETase, further breaks down MHET into terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG).
- Both of these compounds are environmentally safe and can be used as a carbon and energy source by Ideonella sakaiensis itself as well as by other organisms.
- Ideonella sakaiensis represents a biological solution to plastic pollution, particularly for PET plastics that are widely used in bottles, packaging, and textiles.
- Its ability to break down PET into harmless components makes it a potential tool for industrial-scale biodegradation and plastic recycling.
