Impacts of Nutrients on Alkene Biodegradation Rates and Microbial Community Composition in Enriched Consortia from Natural Inocula.

ABSTRACT: There is a growing need for biological and chemical methods for upcycling plastic waste streams. Pyrolysis processes can accelerate plastic depolymerization by breaking polyethylene into smaller alkene components which may be more biodegradable than the initial polymer. While the biodegradation of alkanes has been extensively studied, the role microorganisms play in alkene breakdown is not well understood. Alkene biodegradation holds the potential to contribute to the coupling of chemical and biological processing of polyethylene plastics. In addition, nutrient levels are known to impact rates of hydrocarbon degradation. Model alkenes were used (C6, C10, C16, and C20) to follow the breakdown capability of microbial communities from three environmental inocula in three nutrient levels over

SUBMITTER: Byrne E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10269803 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature