Mechanisms of Polyethylene Terephthalate Pellet Fragmentation into Nanoplastics and Assimilable Carbons by Wastewater Comamonas.

ABSTRACT: Comamonadaceae bacteria are enriched on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these mechanisms with Comamonas testosteroniKF-1, a wastewater isolate, by combining microscopy, spectroscopy, proteomics, protein modeling, and genetic engineering. Compared to minor dents on PET films, scanning electron microscopy revealed significant fragmentation of PET pellets, resulting in a 3.5-fold increase in the abundance of small nanoparticles (<100 nm) during 30-day cultivation. Infrared spectroscopy captured primarily hydrolytic cleavage in the fragmented pellet particles. Solution analysis further demonstrated double hydrolysis of a PET oligomer, bis(2-hydroxyethyl) tereph

SUBMITTER: Wilkes RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11526368 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature