Engineering Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for open-loop upcycling of mixed plastics.

Authors

Hao Meng, Tobias Karmainski, Aziz Ben Ammar, Anka Sieberichs, Yannick Branson, Peer Vossen, Tobias Schwanemann, Hendrik Ballerstedt, Uwe T Bornscheuer, Ren Wei, Lars M Blank

Published in

Trends in biotechnology. Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

Current recycling technologies address less than 10% of global plastic waste, necessitating alternative valorization routes. Biological upcycling via enzymatic depolymerization combined with microbial conversion of the resulting monomers offers a promising pathway to transform mixed-plastic waste into valuable alternatives. In this research article, we employed a single engineered Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for simultaneous co-utilization of five plastic monomers including ethylene glycol, terephthalate, adipate, 1,4-butanediol, and l-lactic acid, which can be derived from enzymatic hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), polyester polyurethanes (PUs), and polylactic acid. Continuous fermentation over 21 days with alternating mixed-monomer feeds achieved steady-state growth and complete substrate depletion, yielding adaptive mutations that informed iterative strain improvement. Further engineering enabled the biosynthesis of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (R-3HB), and 0.70 g l^-1 R-3HB was produced directly from enzymatic hydrolysates of blended PET, PBAT, and thermoplastic PU. These results establish a viable bio-based approach for upcycling realistic mixed plastics into value-added bioproducts.

PMID:
42786117
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.

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