Raman Microspectroscopy to Trace the Incorporation of Deuterium from Labeled (Micro)Plastics into Microbial Cells.

ABSTRACT: The ubiquitous use of plastics demands thoughtfulness about their fate in the environment. Biodegradability is, therefore, a prerequisite for the future use of plastics in many applications, including agriculture. Here, we bring forward stable isotope (resonance) Raman microspectroscopy at the single-cell level to broaden the mechanistic understanding of microbial degradation of (micro)plastics in natural systems. We selected perdeuterated d-polylactic acid (dPLA) as model plastic, synthesized from d-lactic acid-d₄, via enantioselective, biocatalytic reduction of pyruvate-d₃. With dPLA in hand, we traced the deuterium label during incubation experiments into microbial biomass using C-D vibrations (appear in the Raman-silent region of undeuterated biomass, 2050-2300 cm

SUBMITTER: Muller K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11883734 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature