Omics Insights into Microbial Degradation of an Oxidized Low Molecular Weight Polyethylene (LMWPE)

Plastics are widely used materials, yet their chemical stability hinders biodegradation, exacerbating pollution on a global scale. To address this challenge, plastic-degrading microorganisms and their enzymes offer promising avenues for the development of biotechnological strategies to improve biodegradation. In this context, soils contaminated with plastic waste, where the polymers are exposed to heat and UV, may foster microbes adapted to degrade oxidized versions of the polymers and thus serve as rich reservoirs of plastic-transforming microorganisms. Here, two microbial communities originating from topsoil and subsoil collected at a plastic-contaminated landfill in Norway underwent an enrichment protocol to select bacteria specifically involved in the decomposition of an oxidized low molecular weight polyethylene (LMWPE). A genome-resolved metatranscriptomic approach identified a suite of enzymes (alkane 1-monooxygenase, Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases, Cytochrome P450s) with functions compatible with the degradation of oxidized products and hydrocarbons derived from the LMWPE