Efficient biodegradation of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic by Gordonia sp. CN2K isolated from plastic contaminated environment

Since we rely entirely on plastics or their products in our daily lives, plastics are the invention of the hour. Polyester plastics, such as Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), are among the most often used types of plastics. PET plastics have a high ratio of aromatic components, which makes them very resistant to microbial attack and highly persistent. As a result, massive amounts of plastic trash accumulate in the environment, where they eventually transform into microplastic (<5 mm). Rather than macroplastics, microplastics are starting to pose a serious hazard to the environment. It is imperative that these polymer microplastics be broken down. Through the use of enrichment culture, the PET microplastic-degrading bacterium was isolated from solid waste management yards. Bacterial strain was identified as Gordonia sp. CN2K by 16 S rDNA sequence analysis and biochemical characterization. It is able to use polyethylene terephthalate as its only energy and carbon source. In 45 days, 40.43 % of the PET microplastic was degraded. By using mass spectral analysis and HPLC to characterize the metabolites produced during PET breakdown, the degradation of PET is verified. The metabolites identified in the spent medium included dimer compound, bis (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), mono (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET), and terephthalate. Furthermore, the PET sheet exposed to the culture showed considerable surface alterations in the scanning electron microscope images. This illustrates how new the current work is.