Weight loss assay data of Polycaprolactone beads exposed to genetically modified microbes expressing plastic degrading enzymes under laboratory conditions

This dataset contains information about the weight of plastic (polycaprolactone) beads that were incubated in 10ml of Luria Bertani broth for 5 days at 37 degrees Celsius. Three replicates were performed. The bacterial cells had been modified to harbour plasmids that encoded genes to degrade plastic and/or to trigger the cells to form biofilms, the expression of these genes was induced using Isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). An empty plasmid was used as the control.

The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant NE/X010902/1), as part of an experiment looking into using synthetic biology to manipulate bacterial social behaviours to maximise the microbial degradation of environmental waste plastics.