Biodegradation of Plastics in Tenebrio Genus (Mealworms)

Yang, Shan-Shan; Wu, Wei‐Min

doi:10.1007/698_2020_457

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…This is because microorganisms in the insect's digestive tract biodegrade it and possibly reduce the molecular weight of PLA. Some authors have reported similar observations (Xu et al., 2020; Yang & Wu, 2020; Yang et al., 2020), and as indicated by other authors, change in the microbiome is an important aspect in the investigation of the evolution of organisms, as well as the causes of changes in the phenotype, reproductive, physiological, and hologenome, which are fields that are still being studied in depth (Peng et al., 2021, 2020; Yang et al., 2014; Yang, Brandon, et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2021; Yang, Wu, et al., 2018).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 59%

Intestinal microbiome changes of Ulomoides dermestoides (Chevrolat, 1878) fed with a film based on thermoplastic cassava starch and polylactic acid

Salazar‐Sánchez

Herrera

Flores‐Gallegos

et al. 2022

Environmental Quality Mgmt

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Degradation of polymers by insects is investigated because these materials are source of pollution. The objective of this study was to determine changes in the intestinal microbiome of Coleoptera Ulomoides dermestoides subjected to three polymeric diets based on oats (1), thermoplastic cassava starch (TPS) (2), and an extruded matrix (3) composed of TPS and polylactic acid (PLA). Insects were identified by sequencing of CO1, while gut microflora from insects was identified using DGGE and DNA sequencing. The intestinal microbiota of insects fed diet 1 was composed by Enterobacter sp., Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia sp., and Pantoea vagans, diet 2 by Bacillus maritimus, Enterobacter sp. non-culturable, Enterococcus alcedines, Lactobacillus oeni, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia sp., while diet 3 by Enterobacter sp., Enterococcus aquimarinus, Enterococcus casseliflavus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia sp., and Lactobacillus oligofermentans indicating that the mixture of renewable sources present in the polymer such as TPS/PLA has a higher rate of degradation and assimilation and more diversity in the intestinal microbiome of insects than in the monopolymeric diets such as 1 and 2, and it was evidenced that diet changes the microbiome of the digestive tract of U. dermestoides which can be used during biodegradation of polymers.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 59%

Intestinal microbiome changes of Ulomoides dermestoides (Chevrolat, 1878) fed with a film based on thermoplastic cassava starch and polylactic acid

Salazar‐Sánchez

Herrera

Flores‐Gallegos

et al. 2022

Environmental Quality Mgmt

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“…In this study, we chose 24 days as the test duration because petroleum-based plastics (PS, PE, PP, etc .) can provide carbon and energy sources to support the healthy life activities of the larvae for about 3–5 weeks. ,− ,, To obtain sufficient frass for analysis, more containers were prepared under the same conditions (SI M2). The calculation procedure was documented in SI M3.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some invertebrates voluntarily masticate various polymers, convert macroscale fragments into micron-scale particles, and display quick plastic biodegradation under in vivo settings. In particular, insect larvae belonging to darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) have been demonstrated to biodegrade various plastics, including the larvae of Tenebrio molitor, Tenebrio obscurus, Zophobas atratus, Tribolium castaneum, and Plesiophthalmus davidis. ,,− Among them, the most widely studied species is yellow mealworms (T. molitor Linnaeus 1758), which are capable of degrading major plastics including PE, PS, PP, PVC, PUR, and poly(lactic acid) (PLA), ,,,,− ,− ,,,,, and are ideal model insect larvae for investigating plastic biodegradation since they aggressively chew and ingest plastic products (foam, film, etc .)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Polymer Size on Polystyrene Biodegradation in Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor): Responses of Depolymerization Pattern, Gut Microbiome, and Metabolome to Polymers with Low to Ultrahigh Molecular Weight

Peng

Sun

Xiao

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Biodegradation of polystyrene (PS) in mealworms (Tenebrio molitor lavae) has been identified with commercial PS foams. However, there is currently limited understanding of the influence of molecular weight (MW) on insect-mediated plastic biodegradation and the corresponding responses of mealworms. In this study, we provided the results of PS biodegradation, gut microbiome, and metabolome by feeding mealworms with highpurity PS microplastics with a wide variety of MW. Over 24 days, mealworms (50 individuals) fed with 0.20 g of PS showed decreasing removal of 74.1

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“…While full mineralization of MPs has been considered to be extremely slow, , the fragmentation is much more common in nature, although this process also occurs slowly. − The formation of secondary MPs from larger plastic debris ( i.e. , referred to as fragmentation or downsizing) involves various weathering processes, including mechanical abrasion, photochemical transformation, chemical oxidation, and biodegradation …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…26−28 The formation of secondary MPs from larger plastic debris (i.e., referred to as fragmentation or downsizing) involves various weathering processes, including mechanical abrasion, 29 photochemical transformation, 28 chemical oxidation, 30 and biodegradation. 31 The temporal evolving fragmentation of MPs results in distinct size distribution patterns along with the morphotype changes. Chemical oxidation of plastics in the lab generated smaller MPs with rougher morphologies (i.e., from >40 μm to <20 μm within 30 days).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Conditional Fragmentation-Induced Microplastic Distribution

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Microplastics (MPs) are drawing increasing attention from the international community due to their potential threats to the ecosystem and human health. Although their occurrence and spatial distribution have been extensively studied in recent years, the relationship between their abundance and sizes remains unclear. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms dominating their size distribution have rarely been explored. In the present study, we developed a novel conditional fragmentation model to describe MP size distribution in the soil environment. It is proposed that the distribution of MPs is not a coincidence but controlled by conditional aging. The applicability of this model was tested using data collected from different land use settings in Beijing, China. A distinct downsizing phenomenon from fibers, films, and fragments to granules is observed. Undisturbed land use types accumulated larger sized MPs with higher stability, while human interference accelerated the fragmentation of MPs. Both morphological analysis and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) observations provided direct evidence for the conditional fragmentation process. Furthermore, the model has proven to be suitable for describing the size distribution of MPs from various sources (including atmospheric deposition, transportation, and agriculture) and aging processes (such as mechanical abrasion, chemical oxidation, and photochemical transformation). It is proposed that this model can be used for various purposes in MP-related studies, especially source identification, transport modeling, and risk assessment.

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Biodegradation of Plastics in Tenebrio Genus (Mealworms)

Cited by 19 publications

References 77 publications

Intestinal microbiome changes of Ulomoides dermestoides (Chevrolat, 1878) fed with a film based on thermoplastic cassava starch and polylactic acid

Intestinal microbiome changes of Ulomoides dermestoides (Chevrolat, 1878) fed with a film based on thermoplastic cassava starch and polylactic acid

Influence of Polymer Size on Polystyrene Biodegradation in Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor): Responses of Depolymerization Pattern, Gut Microbiome, and Metabolome to Polymers with Low to Ultrahigh Molecular Weight

Modeling the Conditional Fragmentation-Induced Microplastic Distribution

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