scholarly journals Knowledge and Opportunities from the Plastisphere: A Prelude for the Search of Plastic Degrading Bacteria on Coastal Environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Felipe Avilés-Ramírez ◽  
Joanna M. Ortiz-Alcantara ◽  
Ma. Leticia Arena-Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Human Populations ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
General Process ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
Degrading Bacteria ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Microbial Strains ◽  
Microbial Agents ◽  
Broad Understanding

Plastic pollution has become an urgent issue, since its invasion to every ecosystem has led to multiple impacts on the environment and human populations. Certain microbial strains and genera had shown the ability to biodegrade plastic sources under laboratory conditions. In this minireview, we collect and analyze scientific papers and reports of this microbial activity as we contextualize this information on the global plastic pollution problem, to provide an updated state of the art of plastic biodegradation with microbial agents. Along with a broad understanding of the general process of plastic biodegradation hosted by microorganisms. The contributions of this minireview come from the identification of research gaps, as well as proposals for new approaches. One of the main proposals focuses on coastal environments and in particular coastal wetlands as a great microbiome source with potential for plastic biodegradation, whether reported or undiscovered. Our final proposal consists of the application of this knowledge into technologic tools and strategies that have a remarkable impact on the battle against the plastic pollution problem.

scholarly journals Not Only Diamonds Are Forever: Degradation of Plastic Films in a Simulated Marine Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Catarci Carteny ◽  
Ronny Blust
Keyword(s):  
Biodegradable Polymers ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Biodegradable Plastic ◽  
Biodegradable Films ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Plastic Films ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
Temperature And Pressure

In recent years, biodegradable polymers have been hailed as one of the potential solutions to the plastic pollution problem, due to their ability to fully degrade rather than break down in smaller pieces over time. However, complete degradation of biodegradable polymers is often achievable only under strictly controlled conditions (i.e. increased temperature and pressure), which are not found in the natural environment – particularly in aquatic and marine habitats. This study aims to compare the degradation performance of plastic films made of two different biodegradable polymers – polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) – to that of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films, in a simulated marine environment. Plastic films of the three chosen polymers, of equal dimensions, were exposed to natural sunlight within a novel setup - which simulated the sea surface - for six months. Films were chosen as they are among the most frequently reported type of plastic litter in coastal environments worldwide, and because of the increasing adoption on the market of biodegradable films for packaging. Results showed that, after six months, no consistent degradation could be observed on any of the films–not even the biodegradable ones. Between PLA and PHA films, the latter weathered slightly more than the former, but not at a significant level. Interestingly, differences were reported among the different polymer films in terms of type and extent of biofouling, brittleness, surface charge and surface microstructural changes. Overall, this work suggests that biodegradable plastic behaves rather similarly to traditional plastic in the marine environment over a half-year span. Albeit further experiments on even longer timescales are needed, this study provides evidence that, unless properly disposed of in an industrial composter facility, biodegradable plastic may only contribute to the very problem it was intended to solve.

scholarly journals Clean Enzymatic depolymerization of highly crystalline polyethylene terephthalate in moist-solid reaction mixtures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Kaabel ◽  
J. P. Daniel Therien ◽  
Catherine E. Deschênes ◽  
Dustin Duncan ◽  
Tomislav Friščić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Metal Organic Framework ◽  
Direct Synthesis ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Solid Reaction ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
Metal Organic ◽  
Dilute Aqueous Solutions ◽  
Space Time Yield ◽  
Crystalline Forms

AbstractLess than 9% of the plastic produced is recycled after use, contributing to the global plastic pollution problem. While polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most common plastics, its thermomechanical recycling generates a material of lesser quality. Enzymes are highly selective, renewable catalysts active at mild temperatures; however, the current consensus is that they lack activity towards the more crystalline forms of PET. We report here that when used in moist-solid reaction mixtures instead of the typical dilute aqueous solutions, enzymes can directly depolymerize high crystallinity PET in 13-fold higher space-time yield and a 15-fold higher enzyme efficiency than prior reports. Further, this process shows a 26-fold selectivity for terephthalic acid over other hydrolysis products, which allows the direct synthesis of UiO-66 metal-organic framework.

scholarly journals About stress, ... Or about Hans Selye’s two errors, conquered the world

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 103-111
Author(s):  
Eugene V. Daev
Keyword(s):  
Popular Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Scientific Value ◽  
Living Objects ◽  
Broad Understanding

Too broad understanding of the term stress, which Selye himself and his followers used in their popular science works, reduces its scientific value. Based on a brief analysis of examples of the ambiguity of the term stress, it is proposed to restore its research significance. For that, the concept of stress should be used more strictly and unequivocally and it would not be allowed to use a commonly broad understanding the term in scientific papers. In the frame of earlier Selyes stress definition, it suggests a more detailed structuring of the term based on levels of studying of living objects, including genetic.

scholarly journals Preliminary Study on Abundance of Microplastic in Sediments and Water Samples Along the Coast of Pakistan (Sindh and Balochistan)-Northern Arabian Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (Special Issue) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quratulan Ahmed ◽  
Qadeer Mohammad Ali ◽  
Levent Bat ◽  
Aysah Oztekin ◽  
Sehrish Memon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Plastic Material ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Sediment Samples ◽  
Water And Sediment ◽  
Northern Arabian Sea ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
High Pollution ◽  
Preliminary Study

Plastic material dominates our life and accordingly, it dominates the environment as a pollutant. Pakistan coasts are facing with plastic pollution problem like the rest of the world. The number and types of microplastics found in sea water and sediment samples from 25 locations along the Arabian Sea coast of Pakistan were explored in this study. The results of the present study show that the region is under a high pollution from microplastics. Microplastic abundance in seawater was found as mean 582.12±246.14 particle. L-1 and in sediment samples was mean 987.40±617.06 particle.kg-1 dry sediment. Microplastic concentration was maximum in Manora both seawater and sediment samples. Fibers were major contribution to total microplastics, up to 99% of all samples both seawater and sediment samples.

scholarly journals Sources, impacts and trends of pharmaceuticals in the marine and coastal environment

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1656) ◽  
pp. 20130572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Gaw ◽  
Kevin V. Thomas ◽  
Thomas H. Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Coastal Environment ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Veterinary Pharmaceuticals ◽  
Critical Knowledge ◽  
Coastal Aquaculture

There has been a significant investment in research to define exposures and potential hazards of pharmaceuticals in freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. A substantial number of integrated environmental risk assessments have been developed in Europe, North America and many other regions for these situations. In contrast, comparatively few empirical studies have been conducted for human and veterinary pharmaceuticals that are likely to enter coastal and marine ecosystems. This is a critical knowledge gap given the significant increase in coastal human populations around the globe and the growth of coastal megacities, together with the increasing importance of coastal aquaculture around the world. There is increasing evidence that pharmaceuticals are present and are impacting on marine and coastal environments. This paper reviews the sources, impacts and concentrations of pharmaceuticals in marine and coastal environments to identify knowledge gaps and suggests focused case studies as a priority for future research.

scholarly journals The treatment of hospital wastewater: an appraisal

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Pauwels ◽  
W. Verstraete
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Hospital Wastewater ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Microbial Strains ◽  
Special Concern ◽  
Microbial Agents

Hospitals discharge considerable amounts of chemicals and microbial agents in their wastewaters. Problem chemicals present in hospital wastewater belong to different groups, such as antibiotics, X-ray contrast agents, disinfectants and pharmaceuticals. Many of these chemical compounds resist normal wastewater treatment. They end up in surface waters where they can influence the aquatic ecosystem and interfere with the food chain. Humans are particularly exposed by the drinking water, produced from surface water. Microbial agents of special concern are multiresistant microbial strains. The latter are suspected to contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance. In this paper, we will discuss the different approaches towards hospital wastewater treatment. The principle of uncoupling hospitals from public sewers warrants in-depth evaluation by technologists and ecotoxicologists as well as public health specialists.

Characterizing plastic debris accumulating in the North Pacific Garbage Patch

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Egger ◽  
Wouter Jan Strietman ◽  
Ulphard Thoden van Velzen ◽  
Ingeborg Smeding-Zuurendonk ◽  
Laurent Lebreton
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
The North ◽  
Beach Litter ◽  
Oceanic Gyres ◽  
The North Pacific

<p>Citizen science programs and tracking applications have been used in the collection of data on plastic debris in marine environments to determine its composition and sources. These programs, however, are mostly focused on debris collected from beach cleanups and coastal environments. Large plastic debris currently afloat at sea, which is a significant contributor to marine plastic pollution and a major source of beach litter, is less well-characterized.</p><p>Transported by currents, wind and waves, positively buoyant plastic objects eventually accumulate at the sea surface of subtropical oceanic gyres, forming the so-called ocean garbage patches. It is important to know where the debris that persists in the offshore gyres is entering the ocean, where it is produced and what practices (commercial, cultural, industrial) are contributing to the accumulation of these debris into the ocean garbage patches. This information coupled to data on how long and well the plastics persevere at the sea surface is necessary for creating effective and efficient mitigation strategies.</p><p>Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of plastic debris afloat in the North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP). Offshore debris collected by The Ocean Cleanup’s System 001b from the NPGP in 2019 was analyzed using the Litter-ID method, which applies an adapted and expended version of the OSPAR guideline for monitoring beach litter. Our results reveal new insights into the composition, origin and age of plastic debris accumulating at the ocean surface in the NPGP. The standardized methodology applied here further enables a first thorough comparison of plastic debris accumulating in offshore waters and coastal environments.</p>

scholarly journals mRNA vaccines: Why is the biology of retroposition ignored?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislav Domazet-Lošo
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Insertional Mutagenesis ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Genome Integration ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Evolutionary Aspects

The major advantage of mRNA vaccines over more conventional approaches is their potential for rapid development and large-scale deployment in pandemic situations. In the current COVID-19 crisis the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been conditionally approved and broadly applied, while others are still in clinical trials. However, there is no previous experience with the use of mRNA vaccines on the large scale in general population. This warrants a careful evaluation of mRNA vaccine safety properties by considering all available knowledge on the mRNA molecular biology and evolution. Here, I discuss the pervasive claim that mRNA-based vaccines cannot alter genomes. Surprisingly, this notion is widely stated in the mRNA vaccine literature, but never supported by referencing any primary scientific papers that would specifically address this question. This discrepancy becomes even more puzzling if one considers previous work on the molecular and evolutionary aspects of retroposition in murine and human populations that clearly documents the frequent integration of mRNA molecules into genomes, including clinical contexts. By performing basic comparisons, I showed that the sequence features of mRNA vaccines meet all known requirements for retroposition by L1 elements — the only active and the most abundant retrotransposons in the human genome. In contrast, I found an evolutionary bias in the set of known retrocopy generating genes — a pattern that might help in the future development of retroposition-resistant therapeutic mRNAs. I conclude that is unfounded to a priori assume that mRNA-based therapeutics do not impact genomes, and that the route to genome integration of vaccine mRNAs via endogenous L1 retroelements is easily conceivable. This implies that we urgently need experimental studies that would rigorously test for the potential retroposition of vaccine mRNAs. At present, the insertional mutagenesis safety of mRNA-based vaccines should be considered unresolved.

scholarly journals Potentials and Challenges of Existing Plastic Pollutant Biodegradation Using Bacteria in Jakarta Bay

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 475-485
Author(s):  
Syarifatun Nisa Nurdhy
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
National Park ◽  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Degrading Bacteria ◽  
Thousand Islands

Research conducted by Research Center for Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Biotechnology in the three different locations namely Tarakan, Tanjung Balai Asahan, and Jakarta Bay, has identified that Jakarta Bay had the highest plastic debris concentration among the others. Jakarta Bay is directly connected to Thousand Island National Park sea waters, in which large parts of it are marine conservation area. Thus, plastic pollutants potentially threat Jakarta Bay and Thousand Island National Park abundant biodiversity and underwater marine ecotourism. The tools such as garbage transport barges owned by Special Region of the Capital Jakarta Province are not enough to overcome the existing plastic debris. 21 tons waste end up to Jakarta Bay every day. There should be further research about solving existing plastic waste with other technology than using machine. This literature study aims to review and investigate the potentials and challenges of utilizing bacteria to combat existing marine plastic pollution in Jakarta Bay. Established researches showed that some bacteria strains isolated from plastic debris in some sea waters and sediments around the world are capable of degrading polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and possibly polystyrene (PS). Unfortunately, reports involving plastic degrading ability of bacteria isolated from plastic wastes in Indonesian sea waters, let alone Jakarta Bay, are hard to find if any. There were only researches about isolated bacterias from Jakarta Bay, which were capable of degrading oil spill. Further research about isolated bacteria from plastic debris of Jakarta Bay, should be established. It can be used to identify bacteria strains or consortia that are able to degrade plastic debris with environmentally friendly byproducts. There will be possibilities that oil spill degrading bacteria isolated from Jakarta Bay can also degrade plastics, as both oil spill and plastics are made up from hydrocarbon chains. A recently published research has revealed that Alvoranicus borkumensis isolated from marine plastic debris in Mediterranean Sea was able to degrade PE, while previously other study has isolated it from Thousand Islands sea waters and found it able to degrade marine oil spill. The expression possibility of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequence coding extracted from wax worm Galleria mellonella into widespread indigeneous Jakarta Bay bacteria and bacteria isolated from plastic debris in Jakarta Bay, can also be taken into account. 

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