Programming aliphatic polyester degradation by engineered bacterial spores

Enzymatic degradation of plastics is a sustainable approach to address the growing issue of plastic accumulation. Here, we demonstrate the degradation of aliphatic polyesters using enzyme-displaying bacterial spores and the fabrication of self-degradable spore-containing plastics. The degradation proceeds without nutrient-dependent spore germination into living cells. Engineered spores completely degrade aliphatic polyesters into small molecules, retain activity through multiple cycles, and regain full activity through germination and sporulation. We also found that the interplay between the glass transition temperature and melting temperature of polyester substrates affects heterogeneous biocatalytic degradation by engineered spores. Directly incorporating spores into polyesters results in robust materials that are completely degradable. Our study offers a straightforward and sustainable biocatalytic approach to plastic degradation., Spore preparation. A single colony on the LB agar plates of wild-type and mutant B. subtilis strains (TIED-LipA and TIED-LipB) was inoculated in LB medium (50 mL fresh LB medium in a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask). Cells were cultured with agitation at 37 °C and 250 rpm until they reached an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.5. Sporulation was then induced using the resuspension method.32 Cells were harvested by centrifugation (4000 g, 10 min), and the cell pellets were resuspended in an equal volume of SM medium (0.046 mg FeCl2, 4.8 g MgSO4, 12.6 mg MnCl2, 535 mg NH4Cl, 106 mg Na2SO4, 68 mg KH2PO4, 96.5 mg NH4NO3, 219 mg CaCl2, 2 g L-glutamic acid, and 20 mg L-tryptophan, pH 7.1). The resuspended cells were transferred back to Erlenmeyer flasks and cultured for 14 h with agitation at 37 °C and 250 rpm. The sporulating cells were collected (4000 g, 10 min) and treated with 50 μg mL-1 lysozyme (Sigma-Aldrich, L6876) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.2, Gentrox, 30-025). The harveste..., , # Programming Aliphatic Polyester Degradation by Engineered Bacterial Spores

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dbrv15fcr](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dbrv15fcr)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains raw experimental data on the biodegradation of aliphatic polyesters using bacterial spores. It includes measurements and analytical results that assess polymer degradation efficiency, biocomposite material properties, polymer and small molecules characterization, catalyst recycling performance. The dataset is organized into the following sections:

* Plastic Film Weight Traces and Crystallinity
* NMR and GPC Raw Traces
* Plastic Film Weight Loss Traces with Recycle Catalyst
* Biocomposite Material Mechanical Test Raw Data
* Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Raw Traces

Abbreviations were used in these documents: 

* PCL: polycaprolactone;
* PDLLA: poly(D,L-lactic acid);
* PLLA: poly(L-lactic acid);
* PLGA: poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid);
* TIED: engineere...,