Nature Communications (Oct 2022)
Wax worm saliva and the enzymes therein are the key to polyethylene degradation by Galleria mellonella
- A. Sanluis-Verdes,
- P. Colomer-Vidal,
- F. Rodriguez-Ventura,
- M. Bello-Villarino,
- M. Spinola-Amilibia,
- E. Ruiz-Lopez,
- R. Illanes-Vicioso,
- P. Castroviejo,
- R. Aiese Cigliano,
- M. Montoya,
- P. Falabella,
- C. Pesquera,
- L. Gonzalez-Legarreta,
- E. Arias-Palomo,
- M. Solà,
- T. Torroba,
- C. F. Arias,
- F. Bertocchini
Affiliations
- A. Sanluis-Verdes
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- P. Colomer-Vidal
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- F. Rodriguez-Ventura
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- M. Bello-Villarino
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- M. Spinola-Amilibia
- CIB-CSIC, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology
- E. Ruiz-Lopez
- Department of Structural Biology, Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC
- R. Illanes-Vicioso
- Department of Structural Biology, Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC
- P. Castroviejo
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and PCT, University of Burgos
- R. Aiese Cigliano
- Sequentia Biotech SL
- M. Montoya
- CIB-CSIC, Department of Molecular Biomedicine
- P. Falabella
- Department of Sciences, University of Basilicata
- C. Pesquera
- Department of Chemistry and Process & Resource Engineering, Inorganic Chemistry Group-University of Cantabria, Nanomedicine-IDIVAL
- L. Gonzalez-Legarreta
- Department of Chemistry and Process & Resource Engineering, Inorganic Chemistry Group-University of Cantabria, Nanomedicine-IDIVAL
- E. Arias-Palomo
- CIB-CSIC, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology
- M. Solà
- Department of Structural Biology, Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC
- T. Torroba
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and PCT, University of Burgos
- C. F. Arias
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- F. Bertocchini
- Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33127-w
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 13,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 11
Abstract
The crucial first step in the biodegradation of polyethylene plastic is oxidation of the polymer. This has traditionally required abiotic pre-treatment, but now Bertocchini and colleagues report two wax worm enzymes capable of catalyzing this oxidation and subsequent degradation at room temperature.
