Phys.org November 11, 2024 Researchers in Kenya evaluated the ability of the mealworm to consume Polystyrene (PS) its associated gut microbiota diversity. During the PS feeding trials intake increased over a 30-day period and the overall survival rates of the larvae decreased when fed a sole PS diet. The predominant bacteria observed in larvae fed PS diets were Kluyvera, Lactococcus, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Enterococcus, while Stenotrophomonas dominated the control diet. According to the researchers their findings demonstrated that the newly identified lesser mealworm could survive on a PS diet and has a consortium of important bacteria strongly associated with PS […]
Category Archives: Pollution mitigation
Study identifies fungus that breaks down ocean plastic
Phys.org June 3, 2024 Plastic may serve as a potential carbon and energy source for microbes, yet the contribution of marine microbes, especially marine fungi to plastic degradation is not well constrained. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Switzerland) isolated the fungus Parengyodontium album from floating plastic debris and measured fungal-mediated mineralization rates (conversion to CO2) of polyethylene (PE). When the PE was pretreated with UV light, the biodegradation rate of the initially added PE was 0.044 %/day. They traced the incorporation of PE-derived 13C carbon into P. album biomass. Despite the high mineralization rate incorporation of […]