塑料在全球经济中被广泛使用,每年,生产至少3.5至4亿吨。由于回收不良和循环使用低,每年在陆地或海洋环境中积累数百万吨。如今,很明显,塑料会对所有生态系统造成不利影响,微塑料对我们的健康尤其重要。因此,最近的微生物研究已经解决了微生物是否以及在多大程度上可以降解环境中的塑料的问题。这篇综述总结了目前有关微生物塑料降解的知识。可用的酶主要作用于聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)和酯基聚氨酯(PUR)的高分子量聚合物。不幸的是,已知的最好的PUR和PET活性酶和微生物仍然具有中等的周转率。虽然已经发表了许多描述微生物群落降解化学添加剂的报告,没有酶作用于高分子聚合物聚苯乙烯,聚酰胺,聚氯乙烯,聚丙烯,醚基聚氨酯,和聚乙烯是已知的。一起,这些聚合物占塑料年产量的80%以上。因此,需要进一步的研究来显着增加作用于这些聚合物的酶和微生物的多样性。这可以通过利用非培养微生物和暗物质蛋白的全球宏基因组来实现。只有这样,新的生物催化剂和生物体才能被快速降解,回收,或增值使用绝大多数人造聚合物。
Plastics are widely used in the global economy, and each year, at least 350 to 400 million tons are being produced. Due to poor recycling and low circular use, millions of tons accumulate annually in terrestrial or marine environments. Today it has become clear that plastic causes adverse effects in all ecosystems and that microplastics are of particular concern to our health. Therefore, recent microbial research has addressed the question of if and to what extent microorganisms can degrade plastics in the environment. This review summarizes current knowledge on microbial plastic degradation. Enzymes available act mainly on the high-molecular-weight polymers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and ester-based polyurethane (PUR). Unfortunately, the best PUR- and PET-active enzymes and microorganisms known still have moderate turnover rates. While many reports describing microbial communities degrading chemical additives have been published, no enzymes acting on the high-molecular-weight polymers polystyrene, polyamide, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene, ether-based polyurethane, and polyethylene are known. Together, these polymers comprise more than 80% of annual plastic production. Thus, further research is needed to significantly increase the diversity of enzymes and microorganisms acting on these polymers. This can be achieved by tapping into the global metagenomes of noncultivated microorganisms and dark matter proteins. Only then can novel biocatalysts and organisms be delivered that allow rapid degradation, recycling, or value-added use of the vast majority of most human-made polymers.