Marine biologists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Marine Research, NIOZ, have discovered a fungus that specializes in degrading polyethylene. the Parengiodontium album Its favorite food is plastic slightly fried by ultraviolet light, where it forms a film with microbes.
The fungus was identified by analyzing samples from a garbage patch in the North Pacific Ocean. During the tests, they were grown on special laboratory plastic rich in carbon isotopes, where it was observed that the carbon atoms marked with the isotopes reached other levels of the food chain.
During the research, the relatively slow rate of polyethylene degradation was also precisely measured. Fungi consumed about 0.044% of plastic per day.
Our measurements show that the fungus does not use the carbon in the polyethylene. Most of the polyethylene consumed by P. albumin is emitted by the fungus in the form of carbon dioxide
– Annika Vaaksma, an employee at NIOZ, pointed out that decomposition does not emit more carbon dioxide than human breathing.
The role of ultraviolet light is crucial, Vaaksma stressed, because fungi can only break down those plastics that have been in sunlight for at least a short time near the surface. According to the researcher, other types of fungi may live in the deeper layers of the sea, and are able to break down plastic materials even without ultraviolet radiation.
Plastics entering the oceans are trapped and accumulate in swirling eddies. There are currently 80 million kilograms of plastic waste circulating in one of the six largest gyres, the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Beside that
It can't just be removed
Anyone who catches them by trawling will also cause serious damage to marine life.
Currently, we only know of four types of plastic-causing fungi and hundreds of plastic-eating bacteria. Humanity produces plastic diligently: we currently produce 400 billion kilos of plastic annually, and it is expected to triple by 2060. Without a recycling solution, the only way to avoid environmental catastrophe is to discover organisms that decompose materials that never decompose, and to learn about Its functions and hydrolytic enzymes.
(Interesting geometry, Phys.org)
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