(Central News Agency reporter Chao Yu, Keelung, 22nd) The research team of National Taiwan Ocean University Assistant Professor He Ying-ning recently discovered a new bacterial strain with the ability to decompose plastic and remove diesel. In the future, they will comprehensively study the environmental remediation and commercial potential of the new bacterial strain and develop Practical application methods for environmental protection.
Ocean University issued a press release today stating that up to 8 million tons to 12 million tons of plastic waste flows into the ocean every year around the world, seriously affecting the environment and ecology. After being beaten by waves, many plastic particles are released, which not only enter the biological food chain, but also Let seawater absorb more organic pollutants, forming a “marine plastic biosphere” and cultivating microorganisms that increase the risk of disease transmission.
Ocean University stated that He Yingning, assistant professor of Ocean University’s Institute of Marine Biology, recently led a research team to discover a new bacterial strain, Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1, that has the ability to decompose plastic and remove diesel. This research result has been published in an international journal and will be further developed. Discuss the specific decomposition mechanism and decomposition efficiency.
Ocean University pointed out that this new strain of Oceanimonas, which can decompose plastic and remove diesel, was isolated from marine sediments on the northern coast of Taiwan. It is a Gram-negative, oxygen-requiring and motile species. capable bacteria and exhibit a high degree of environmental adaptability.
Ocean University stated that, like most species of the genus Oceanimonas, they have the ability to decompose aromatic compounds. Oceanimonas pelagia can decompose 10% to 15% of polyethylene within 120 days, and NTOU-MSR1 and new strains secreted by the same genus Biosurfactant capable of removing up to 40% of diesel fuel in 2 weeks.
In addition, Ocean University stated that it also discovered a biosynthetic genome that can produce polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from genome data, which means that in addition to decomposing plastic, NTOU-MSR1 may also produce environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional petroleum plastics. Very potential.
He Yinning pointed out that in the future, the environmental remediation and commercial potential of NTOU-MSR1 will be comprehensively studied, hoping to make full use of the unique biochemical capabilities of NTOU-MSR1 to develop practical application methods for environmental protection and resource reuse. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1130422
