Biodegradation of Polyester by Piscinibacter (Ideonella) sakaiensis in Rich and Poor Broth

Overview

Plastic pollution of the human body is an increasing concern that requires a solution. One solution would be to introduce plastic digesting bacteria in our intestines to digest any microplastics. My project last year showed that E.coli transformed with PETase (a gene from I. sakaiensis) did not digest PET in a rich broth resembling the human intestines. I speculated that the E.coli would rather eat the rich broth than the PET. This year my hypothesis is that I. sakaiensis (which produces PETase) would digest plastic better in a poor environment than in a rich environment. My hypothesis was correct as the I. sakaiensis in the poor environment digested the plastic more than in the rich environment. This suggests that introducing plastic digesting bacteria into the human intestines would not get rid of the microplastics as the bacteria would prefer to eat the nutrients in the intestines.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Microbiology (Junior Division) · Entry J-16-10

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