Engineering environmental bacteria for whole-cell PET hydrolysis and assimilation
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most widely used plastics in food and textile applications, yet post-consumer PET waste persists and accumulates in the environment as macro- and microplastics with adverse health and ecological impacts. Although PET-hydrolysing enzymes have been extensively studied in vitro, whole-cell microbial systems capable of using PET as a growth substrate remain limited, particularly for difficult-to-collect waste. Here, we engineer an environmental bacterium to directly assimilate PET. A strain of Pseudomonas umsongensis capable of metabolising the PET monomer terephthalic acid was isolated and engineered to secrete the high-activity PET hydrolase polyester hydrolase Leipzig 7 via a recombinant twin-arginine translocation motif signal peptide. PET bioavailability was further enhanced through solvent-based pretreatment to generate an amorphous, macroporous substrate. The engineered strain demonstrated direct PET utilisation and hydrolysis, supporting self-sustaining microbial growth. Additionally, in non-sterile wastewater the strain survived and hydrolysed PET microplastics, highlighting its potential for bioremediation and sustainable upcycling applications.
Authors
- José I. Jiménez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2700-9473)
- Gerald J Larrouy-Maumus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6614-8698)
- Ren Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3876-1350)
- Umar Abdulmutalib (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5787-6738)
- Christian Sonnendecker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7904-7343)
- Carolina Alvarez‐Ortega (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1549-1116)
- Alice M. Banks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-9186)
- Zheren Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6384-3054)
- Claudio Avignone–Rossa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1625-6487)
- Wolfgang Zimmermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5730-6663)
- Charlotte Bosomworth
- Juhyun Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2620-8104)
- Brooke Wain
- Pablo Pomposiello
- Stuart Brown
- Harry Doherty
Institutions
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Kyungpook National University (KR)
- Maitama Sule University Kano (NG)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Exelis (United States) (US)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
- Leipzig University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trends in biotechnology
- Published
- 2026-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2026.06.008
- Primary Topic
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Petroleum Technology Development Fund
- H2020 Excellent Science