Environment & Mycoremediation

·

Study

Ocean Fungi Have Enzymes That Digest Polyurethane Plastic

Ocean Fungi Have Enzymes That Digest Polyurethane Plastic

What they found

Ocean fungi carry enzymes that cut polyurethane chains, causing measurable plastic mass loss within weeks.

Ocean fungi carry enzymes that cut polyurethane chains, causing measurable plastic mass loss within weeks.

How solid is it?

Field study

Field study

Field/ecology

Field/ecology

Evidence ladder: Lab dish → Animal → Early human → Strong human. Reviews summarize earlier research.

At a glance

Latin name

Compound

esterases, cutinases, laccase-like enzymes

esterases, cutinases, laccase-like enzymes

Published in

Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics

Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics

Covered in Shroom Scan

Section

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

As it ran in Shroom Scan

Plastic-Eating Fungi

Plastic-Eating Fungi

Across multiple species of oceanic fungi, multi-omics analyses identified esterases, cutinases, and laccase-like enzymes that cut polyurethane polymer chains into smaller chemical fragments, producing measurable mass loss and visible surface erosion of plastic films within weeks, alongside a surge of breakdown products detected by metabolomics. The findings indicate ocean fungi possess complete biochemical toolkits for true plastic digestion, not mere colonization, and point to realistic fungal-enzyme strategies for large-scale marine plastic bioremediation.

Across multiple species of oceanic fungi, multi-omics analyses identified esterases, cutinases, and laccase-like enzymes that cut polyurethane polymer chains into smaller chemical fragments, producing measurable mass loss and visible surface erosion of plastic films within weeks, alongside a surge of breakdown products detected by metabolomics. The findings indicate ocean fungi possess complete biochemical toolkits for true plastic digestion, not mere colonization, and point to realistic fungal-enzyme strategies for large-scale marine plastic bioremediation.

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