Radical innovation breakthroughs of biodegradation of plastics by insects:history,present and future perspectives

Insects damaging and penetrating plastic packaged materials has been reported since the 1950s.Radical innovation breakthroughs of plastic biodegradation have been initiated since the discovery of biodegradation of plastics by Tenebrio molitor larvae in 2015 followed by Galleria mellonella in 2017.Here we review updated studies on the insect-mediated biodegradation of plastics.Plastic biodegradation by insect larvae,mainly by some species of darkling beetles(Tenebrionidae)and pyralid moths(Pyralidae)is currently a highly active and potentially transformative area of research.Over the past eight years,publications have increased explosively,including discoveries of the ability of different insect species to biodegrade plastics,biodegradation performance,and the contribution of host and microbiomes,impacts of polymer types and their physic-chemical properties,and responsible enzymes secreted by the host and gut microbes.To date,almost all major plastics including polyethylene(PE),polypropylene(PP),polyvinyl chloride(PVC),polyethylene terephthalate(PET),polyurethane(PUR),and polystyrene(PS)can be biodegraded by T.molitor and ten other insect species representing the Tenebrionidae and Pyralidae families.The biodegradation processes are symbiotic reactions or performed by synergistic efforts of both host and gut-microbes to rapidly depolymerize and biodegrade plastics with hourly half-lives.The digestive ezymens and bioreagents screted by the insects play an essential role in plasatic biodegradation in certain species of Tenebrionidae and Pyralidae families.New research on the insect itself,gut microbiomes,transcriptomes,proteomes and metabolomes has evaluated the mechanisms of plastic biodegradation in insects.We conclude this review by discussing future research perspectives on insect-mediated biodegradation of plastics.

Microplastics pollution and reduction strategies

Microplastic particles smaller than 5 mm in size are of increasing concem, especially in aquatic environments, such as the ocean. Primary source is microbeads （〈 1 mm） used in cosmetics and cleaning agents and fiber fragments from washing of clothes, and secondary source such as broken down plastic litter and debris. These particles are mostly made from polyethylene （PE）, polypropylene （PP）, polystyrene （PS）, polyethylene terephthalate （PET） and polyesters. They are ingested by diverse marine fauna, including zooplanktons, mussel, oyster, shrimp, fish etc. and can enter human food chains via several pathways. Strategy for control of microplastics pollution should primarily focus on source reduction and subsequently on the development of cost-effective clean up and remediation technologies. Recent research results on biodegradation of plastics have revealed a potential for microbial biodegradation and bioremediation of plastic pollutants, such as PE, PS and PET under appropriate conditions.

Microbial communities biostimulated by ethanol during uranium （VI） bioremediation in contaminated sediment as shown by stable isotope probing

Stable isotope probing （SIP） was used to identify microbes stimulated by ethanol addition in microcosms containing two sediments collected from the bioremediation test zone at the US Department of Energy Oak Ridge site, TN, USA. One sample was highly bioreduced with ethanol while another was less reduced. Microcosms with the respective sediments were amended with ^13C labeled ethanol and incubated for 7 days for SIP. Ethanol was rapidly converted to acetate within 24h accompanied with the reduction of nitrate and sulfate. The accumulation of acetate persisted beyond the 7 d period. Aqueous U did not decline in the microcosm with the reduced sediment due to desorption of U but continuously declined in the less reduced sample. Microbial growth and concomitant 13C-DNA production was detected when ethanol was exhausted and abundant acetate had accumulated in both microcosms. This coincided with U（VI） reduction in the less reduced sample. I3C originating from ethanol was ultimately utilized for growth, either directly or indirectly, by the dominant microbial community members within 7 days of incubation. The microbial community was comprised predominantly of known denitrifiers, sulfate-reducing bacteria and iron （Ⅲ） reducing bacteria including Desulfovibrio, Sphingomonas, Ferribacterium, Rhodanobacter, Geothrix, Thiobacillus and others, including the known U（VI）-redueing bacteria Acidovorax, Anaeromyxobacter, Desulfovibrio, Geobac- ter and Desulfosporosinus. The findings suggest that ethanol biostimulates the U（VI）-reducing microbial com- munity by first serving as an electron donor for nitrate, sulfate, iron （IH） and U（VI） reduction, and acetate which then functions as electron donor for U（VI） reduction and carbon source for microbial growth.

Uranium sequestration in sediment at an iron-rich contaminated site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee via.bioreduction followed by reoxidation

This study evaluated uranium sequestration performance in iron-rich (30 g/kg) sediment via bioreduction followed by reoxidation.Field tests (1383 days) at Oak Ridge,Tennessee demonstrated that uranium contents in sediments increased after bioreduced sediments were re-exposed to nitrate and oxygen in contaminated groundwater.Bioreduction of contaminated sediments (1200 mg/kg U) with ethanol in microcosm reduced aqueous U from 0.37 to 0.023 mg/L.Aliquots of the bioreduced sediment were reoxidized with O2,H2O2,and NaNO3,respectively,over 285 days,resulting in aqueous U of 0.024,1.58 and 14.4 mg/L at pH 6.30,6.63 and 7.62,respectively.The source-and the three reoxidized sediments showed different desorption and adsorption behaviors of U,but all fit a Freundlich model.The adsorption capacities increased sharply at pH 4.5 to 5.5,plateaued at pH 5.5 to 7.0,then decreased sharply as pH increased from 7.0 to 8.0.The O2-reoxidized sediment retained a lower desorption efficiency at pH over 6.0.The NO3--reoxidized sediment exhibited higher adsorption capacity at pH 5.5 to 6.0.The pH-dependent adsorption onto Fe(Ⅲ) oxides and formation of U coated particles and precipitates resulted in U sequestration,and bioreduction followed by reoxidation can enhance the U sequestration in sediment.