Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Eating Enzyme

Do you know what PET-eating bacteria are

In 2016, researchers of Kyoto University isolated a new species of bacteria that uses PET plastics as its food source from a rubbish dump. Ideonella sakaiensis is Gram-negative, aerobic, and rod-shaped which grows within the pH range 5.5-9.0 (optimally at pH 7-7.5) and at 15-42 ºC (optimally at 30-37 ºC

The newly discovered bacterium secretes enzymes called PETase that can break down PET into its most basic units. UK Researchers have determined the structure of a recently discovered enzyme that allowed them to engineer a mutant enzyme even better at breaking down PET

Ref: www.soci.org

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