Description
The extensive use of plastics since the middle of the last century and the lack of guidelines for the management of the enormous amounts of waste they generate has led to the contamination of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Among petroleum-derived plastics, the most used are polymers with C-C bonds such as polyethylene (PE) or polystyrene (PS), and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), highly recalcitrant materials that can persist in ecosystems. for many years. The biological degradation of these macromolecules is not very effective, and natural decomposition is mainly mediated by abiotic factors, releasing micro- and nanoplastics into the environment. BioPlastOmics aims to explore Brazil's exceptional biodiversity to address the problem of plastic pollution (with PE, PS and PET as models) by using cutting-edge omics techniques to identify new microbial strains and their active enzymes in micro/nanoplastics. The Brazilian group will collect environmental samples of microbial communities from different habitats contaminated with plastics, isolate relevant fungal and bacterial strains, carry out a preliminary screening of the degradation of model plastics and analyze their properties and the toxicity of the products released by microbial action. The French team will address the taxonomic identification of the selected communities through metagenomic analysis and will search for genes that encode hypothetical degradative activities of interest for bioremediation. The coordinating group will carry out protein analysis and characterization, secretomic analyzes of isolated microorganisms, gene expression for the production of relevant enzymes from natural isolates or metagenomes, and protein purification and characterization.
The results of this project will include an interesting set of data, collecting ecological information on the microbial diversity of the sampled areas, and revealing the adaptive strategies of microbial communities for the degradation of these pollutants (new or better adapted biocatalysts, synergies between organisms or enzymes, etc.). This could finally be reflected in innovative biotechnological solutions (bioreactors with enzymes, microorganisms or consortia in water purification plants to combat plastic pollution) and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity.
Members