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Scientists Have Discovered Microbe In Cow's Stomach That Can Break Down Plastic

Scientists Have Discovered Microbe In Cow's Stomach That Can Break Down Plastic

According to recent research, bacteria found in one of the compartments of a cow's stomach can break down plastic. Approximately 25.8 million tons of plastic waste have accumulated on land and in the sea, with polyesters accounting for approximately 15% of the waste, a type of plastic commonly used in soft drink bottles and synthetic fabrics.

Polyesters are used in many plastic products, including soft drink bottles and synthetic fabrics. These can take hundreds of years to degrade.

The discovery of this bacteria has given scientists hope that new methods will help combat plastic pollution.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, discovered that rumen microorganisms could degrade all three plastics; these microbes can digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used in plastic bottles as well as other plastics.

Researchers at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna hypothesized that because of their diets, some of the microbes in the cow's rumen, the largest compartment of the cow's stomach, should be able to degrade polyesters.

Cows consume cutin, a natural polyester produced by plants to protect the walls of plant cells, as part of their normal herbivore diet. These natural polyesters can be degraded by microbes found in tomato and apple peels, for example. Given that cow diets contain these natural polyesters, scientists hypothesized that the bovine stomach would be teeming with microbes and break down the chemical bonds in this polyester, as well as the bonds in synthetic polyesters.

These microbes were discovered in rumen liquid, the largest compartment of a ruminant's stomach; ruminants include hooved animals such as cattle and sheep, which rely on microorganisms to help break down their diet of coarse vegetation.

To test that theory, Dr. Doris Ribitsch of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna and her colleagues obtained liquid from the rumen, a compartment of a cow's stomach, from an Austrian slaughterhouse.

According to Ribitsch, one cow's rumen volume is typically around 100 liters.

The researchers then investigated the effect of rumen liquid on three different polyesters by incubating for three days. It was tested on PET (a synthetic polymer commonly used in food packaging), PBAT (a biodegradable plastic commonly used in compostable plastic bags), and PEF (a material derived from plant or vegetable sources). Each type was tested in both film and powder form.

The results showed that all three plastics could be broken down in the lab by microorganisms, with plastic powders breaking down faster than plastic film.

Now, researchers hope to genetically create the bacteria rather than take it from a cow's stomach, which could then be used in recycling centers to help break down plastics on a larger scale.

It's not the first time researchers have discovered that bacteria can be used to break down plastic. Researchers joined two enzymes last year to create a super-enzyme capable of converting plastic back to its original material in just a few days.

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