Abstract
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), a promising biodegradable aliphatic-aromatic copolyester material, can be applied as an alternative material to reduce the adverse effects of conventional plastics. However, the degradation of PBAT plastics in soil is time-consuming, and effective PBAT-degrading microorganisms have rarely been reported. In this study, the biodegradation properties of PBAT by an elite fungal strain and related mechanisms were elucidated. Four PBAT-degrading fungal strains were isolated from farmland soils, and Purpureocillium lilacinum strain BA1S showed a prominent degradation rate. It decomposed approximately 15 wt.% of the PBAT films 30 days after inoculation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‒MS) were conducted to analyze the physicochemical properties and composition of the byproducts after biodegradation. In the presence of PBAT, the lipolytic enzyme activities of BA1S were remarkably induced, and its cutinase gene was also significantly upregulated. Of note, the utilization of PBAT in BA1S cells was closely correlated with intracellular cytochrome P450 (CYP) monooxygenase. Furthermore, CreA-mediated carbon catabolite repression was confirmed to be involved in regulating PBAT-degrading hydrolases and affected the degradation efficiency. This study provides new insight into the degradation of PBAT by elite fungal strains and increases knowledge on the mechanism, which can be applied to control the biodegradability of PBAT films in the future.
Key points
• Purpureocillium lilacinum strain BA1S was isolated from farmland soils and degraded PBAT plastic films at a prominent rate.
• The lipolytic enzyme activities of strain BA1S were induced during coculture with PBAT, and the cutinase gene was significantly upregulated during PBAT degradation.
• CreA-mediated carbon catabolite repression of BA1S plays an essential role in regulating the expression of PBAT-degrading hydrolases.
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We thank the Joint Center for Instruments and Researchers, College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture, NTU, for their technical assistance with SEM.
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This study was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 111-2313-B-002-036).
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WT conceived and conducted most of the experiments, experimental data analysis, and manuscript writing. ML assisted with the experiments. JW provided FTIR and LC/MS analysis services. SC, SH, and SK provided resources and recommendations. CL is the corresponding author in charge of the project design, supervision, and manuscript writing. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
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Tseng, WS., Lee, MJ., Wu, JA. et al. Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) biodegradation by Purpureocillium lilacinum strain BA1S. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 107, 6057–6070 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12704-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12704-z