Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00404
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Towards biorecycling: Isolation of a soil bacterium that grows on a polyurethane oligomer and monomer
Author Cárdenas Espinosa, M.J.; Colina Blanco, A.; Schmidgall, T.; Atanasoff-Kardjalieff, A.K.; Kappelmeyer, U. ORCID logo ; Tischler, D.; Pieper, D.H.; Heipieper, H.J. ORCID logo ; Eberlein, C.
Source Titel Frontiers in Microbiology
Year 2020
Department UBT
Volume 11
Page From art. 404
Language englisch
Keywords Plastic; Biorecycling; Pseudomonas; polyurethane; Diaminotoluene; Aromatics degradation; Aromatic diamines
Abstract The fate of plastic waste and a sustainable use of synthetic polymers is one of the major challenges of the twenty first century. Waste valorization strategies can contribute to the solution of this problem. Besides chemical recycling, biological degradation could be a promising tool. Among the high diversity of synthetic polymers, polyurethanes are widely used as foams and insulation materials. In order to examine bacterial biodegradability of polyurethanes, a soil bacterium was isolated from a site rich in brittle plastic waste. The strain, identified as Pseudomonas sp. by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and membrane fatty acid profile, was able to grow on a PU-diol solution, a polyurethane oligomer, as the sole source of carbon and energy. In addition, the strain was able to use 2,4-diaminotoluene, a common precursor and putative degradation intermediate of polyurethanes, respectively, as sole source of energy, carbon, and nitrogen. Whole genome sequencing of the strain revealed the presence of numerus catabolic genes for aromatic compounds. Growth on potential intermediates of 2,4-diaminotoluene degradation, other aromatic growth substrates and a comparison with a protein data base of oxygenases present in the genome, led to the proposal of a degradation pathway.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=22912
Cárdenas Espinosa, M.J., Colina Blanco, A., Schmidgall, T., Atanasoff-Kardjalieff, A.K., Kappelmeyer, U., Tischler, D., Pieper, D.H., Heipieper, H.J., Eberlein, C. (2020):
Towards biorecycling: Isolation of a soil bacterium that grows on a polyurethane oligomer and monomer
Front. Microbiol. 11 , art. 404 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00404