2024-10-09 16:37:00
American researchers hope to make the microorganism one of the main means of combating plastic waste, the main causes of maritime pollution.
According to the report, 85% of global marine waste is plastic the Ministry of Ecological Transition. To fight this scourge, a bacterium called “Comamoanas testosterones” was discovered by American researchers, reveals a study published on Thursday 3 October Environmental sciences and technologies. This microorganism feeds mainly on plant materials or plastic.
Scientists have discovered that the “Comamoanas testosterones” it eats the plastic then breaks it down using an enzyme (organic substance produced by living cells that promotes the chemical reactions of digestion) that it releases during digestion.
Bacteria generally survive thanks to the light energy present in particular in plants but also by feeding on nutrients present in their environment. The “Comamoanas testosteronei” evolves in wastewater where it finds only plastic waste. So he had to get used to this type of food to survive.
A promising tool but not yet ready
The microorganism therefore lives mainly on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a type of plastic most often found on food packaging and single-use water bottles. Every year, 90 million tonnes of PET are produced worldwide, the biotechnology company says Carbios.
Currently, it takes several months for a single bacterium to decompose a single plastic product (the study does not specify the size of the waste), a process that is still too long for researchers. “We want plastic to decompose much faster than bacteria”said Rebecca Wilkes, co-author of the study, in the columns of Washington Post . Tests are underway in American laboratories to allow these microorganisms to be even more effective. No date for the full-scale experiments has yet been announced.
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