GROUP 5- BIOLOGY

Environmental
Clean-up
The world is facing a global
plastics crisis. Out of the
8.3 billion tons of plastics
produced since the 1950s,
79% ended in landfills or
leaked into the
environment. From the
Mariana trench to Mt.
Everest, there is virtually
no place on Earth which is
left untouched by plastic
pollution.
 Ideonella sakaiensis

is a bacterium from the

genus Ideonella and
family
Comamonadaceae
capable of breaking
down and consuming the
plastic polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)
using it as both a
carbon and energy
source.
It was first identified
in 2016 by a team of
researchers led by
Kohei Oda of Kyoto
Institute of Technology
and Kenji Miyamoto of
Keio University after
collecting a sample of
PET-contaminated
sediment at a plastic
bottle recycling facility
in Sakai, Japan.
 Ideonella sakaiensis

What are the genetic components of Ideonella sakaiensis?

The PET plastic degrading enzyme of Ideonella sakaiensis known as;

PETase, has been genetically modified and combined with MHETase to
break down PET faster, which also degrades PEF (polyethylene
furanoate) plastics.

 Ideonella sakaiensis
How can Ideonella Sakaiensis be modified?
With the technology of genetic engineering, the genes of Ideonella sakaiensis
can be modified with Azotobacter sp.’s genes that make them survive in areas
that usually have much plastic waste, such as soil and water. This combination
is expected to optimize the ability of Ideonella sakaiensis as it breaks down the
limitation of where the bacteria can survive. As a result, the problem of plastic
waste can be solved effectively without damaging the environment and

automatically form a sustainability in nature and life.

 Pros
Ideonella sakaiensis
The bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis converts
poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics
into highly biodegradable poly(3-
hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). This could provide a
new approach not only for PET recycling but
also for the sustainable

production of
biodegradable plastics
 Cons
Ideonella sakaiensis
they can only break down one specific
polymer, such as polyethylene, PET or
polypropylene. Another is that biodegradation
will take multiple weeks or months, while the
consequences of using millions of
concentrations of bacteria

or fungi in a
particular environment are unknown