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Engineering microbial division of labor for plastic upcycling.

ABSTRACT: Plastic pollution is rapidly increasing worldwide, causing adverse impacts on the environment, wildlife and human health. One tempting solution to this crisis is upcycling plastics into products with engineered microorganisms; however, this remains challenging due to complexity in conversion. Here we present a synthetic microbial consortium that efficiently degrades polyethylene terephthalate hydrolysate and subsequently produces desired chemicals through division of labor. The consortium involves two Pseudomonas putida strains, specializing in terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol utilization respectively, to achieve complete substrate assimilation. Compared with its monoculture counterpart, the consortium exhibits reduced catabolic crosstalk and faster deconstruction, particularly when substrate concentrations are high or crude hydrolysate is used. It also outperforms monoculture when polyhydroxyalkanoates serves as a target product and confers flexible tuning through population modulation for cis-cis muconate synthesis. This work demonstrates engineered consortia as a promising, effective platform that may facilitate polymer upcycling and environmental sustainability.

SUBMITTER: Bao T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10522701 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Engineering microbial division of labor for plastic upcycling.

Bao Teng T Qian Yuanchao Y Xin Yongping Y Collins James J JJ Lu Ting T

Nature communications 20230926 1

Plastic pollution is rapidly increasing worldwide, causing adverse impacts on the environment, wildlife and human health. One tempting solution to this crisis is upcycling plastics into products with engineered microorganisms; however, this remains challenging due to complexity in conversion. Here we present a synthetic microbial consortium that efficiently degrades polyethylene terephthalate hydrolysate and subsequently produces desired chemicals through division of labor. The consortium involv ...[more]

PMID: 37752119

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Project description:Current production of virgin plastics stands at approximately 0.4 billion tonnes annually, with significant applications in packaging, construction, and the automotive industry. Despite the utility of plastics, their waste management remains a challenge. This study focuses on upcycling plastic waste (PW) through mechanical recycling, which adds value to discarded plastics and aligns with sustainable practices. We have investigated the mechanical and thermal properties of ternary and quaternary blends of the most common polyolefin polymers, low-density polyethylene and polypropylene (PP), simulating typical PW mixtures. The blends were prepared using twin screw extrusion for melting, mixing, and strand extrusion. The strands from the extruder were guided through a water bath, optionally dried, and pelletized, to determine the processing conditions variations. Aliquots of the blends were directly taken from the extruder to form specimens from the melts. Additionally, the produced pellets were remolten to form specimens, resulting in a second heating cycle (HC). Thermal stability, calorimetric properties, surface morphology, and mechanical characteristics of the blends were analyzed. Results indicate that ternary blends exhibit higher thermal stability but lower mechanical strength compared with quaternary blends. The addition of PP slightly reduced the onset temperature in quaternary blends. The melting temperatures of the blends show minimal change with additional HCs or drying, suggesting the maintenance of thermal properties. The ternary blends exhibit consistent mechanical properties regardless of the processing conditions, but the breakup force and tensile modulus of the quaternary blends were lower with additional HCs. The surface morphological studies revealed increased cavitation with two HCs and improved surface smoothness with drying. These findings support the potential of mechanical recycling to produce marketable plastic grades from mixed PW.

Dataset Information

Engineering microbial division of labor for plastic upcycling.

Publications

Engineering microbial division of labor for plastic upcycling.

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