Mining of Plastic-Degrading Microbial Strains

This study focuses on the exploration and application of plastic-degrading microorganisms. The project is funded by the Seed Industry Revitalization Project of Guangdong Province and jointly conducted by Sun Yat-sen University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Contract No. 2022-WPY-00-010 and 2024-WPY-00-010). The research targets microbial degradation of various plastics, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other plastics. Environmental samples were collected from diverse sources across China, such as activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants, landfill sites, marine environments, and the intestinal tracts of various insects, followed by enrichment and cultivation in the laboratory. The ability of microorganisms to utilize plastics was evaluated by analyzing changes in the physicochemical properties of the polymers during incubation. To date, 50 pure plastic-degrading strains have been enriched and isolated, including species belonging to Bacillus, Brevundimonas, Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Gordonia, Pseudoxanthomonas, and Mycobacterium. In addition, 150 mixed microbial consortia have been established, including consortia DY1–3, PP1M, PP2G, PVC1–20, PE1–15, PP1–20, PET1–25, PU1-20, PS1-20, PVA1-13, PC1-12 as well as 4 synthetic consortium. This project includes partial taxonomic information for the ten isolated pure strains and sequencing data for the twenty-five microbial consortia.