Adaptive evolution of <i>Candida maltosa</i> improves the bioconversion of depolymerized plastic feedstock by targeting biosurfactant production

Plastics are considered non-biodegradable because they take decades to break down into molecules that can enter the various carbon cycles. Thermal oxo-degradation can accelerate this rate-limiting step by turning plastic waste into a fermentable carbon source. In this work, we use Adaptive Laboratory Evolution to optimize the bioconversion of depolymerized HDPE by <i>Candida maltosa</i>. We also investigate the changes that resulted from the evolution process to learn about the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the bioconversion of hydrophobic substrates. Our findings show unique mechanisms in <i>C. maltosa</i> to overcome mass transfer limitations and metabolize long-chain hydrocarbons and fatty substrates that can possibly be extrapolated to industrial applications beyond plastic upcycling.