A plastic particle (red) is colonised by the marine fungus Parengyodontium album
Annika Vaksmaa/NIOZ
From New Scientist by Adrian Barnett
A fungus found on litter floating in the North Pacific Ocean can break down the most abundant type of plastic that ends up in the sea.
In lab experiments, Annika Vaksmaa at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and her colleagues have shown that the white, thread-like fungus can successfully degrade one of the most pernicious plastics, polyethylene, providing the plastic has first been exposed to UV radiation, such as from sunlight.
UV radiation can induce chemical modifications in polyethylene that make the plastic more susceptible to attack by the fungal enzymes, says Vaksmaa.
A fungus found on litter floating in the North Pacific Ocean can break down the most abundant type of plastic that ends up in the sea.
In lab experiments, Annika Vaksmaa at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and her colleagues have shown that the white, thread-like fungus can successfully degrade one of the most pernicious plastics, polyethylene, providing the plastic has first been exposed to UV radiation, such as from sunlight.
UV radiation can induce chemical modifications in polyethylene that make the plastic more susceptible to attack by the fungal enzymes, says Vaksmaa.
The digestion process releases carbon dioxide, the emissions weight for weight are no greater than the small amount that humans release while breathing, the team found.
Vaksmaa believes that the fungus, known as Parengyodontium album, has great potential, but she is cautious about putting it to use in the wild.
“If we take a microbe and add it to a natural system, then we may ruin it while trying to do good,” she says. Instead, she suggests it may be best to gather the plastic first and bring it back to land to be digested by P. album that has been grown in bulk.
This could be achieved using well-established techniques, similar to those used in the brewing industry, she says.
The need for UV exposure means that P. album won’t work on plastic that sinks.
The need for UV exposure means that P. album won’t work on plastic that sinks.
But given the diversity of marine fungi, Vaksmaa thinks it very probable that her team will find some deep-sea species that can do this.
Humans produce more than 400 billion kilograms of plastic each year, and up to 4 per cent of it is thought to end up in the ocean.
Humans produce more than 400 billion kilograms of plastic each year, and up to 4 per cent of it is thought to end up in the ocean.
“It’s great to see that microbes can help with mitigating relatively large problems. But dealing with it at its source is key, which means actually stopping plastic from ending up in nature in the first place,” she says.
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