A novel plastic-degrading bacteria isolated from farmland soil utilizes non-sole carbon sources to enhance the degradation of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)

In recent years, the use of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) in various applications has become widespread. Several studies have screened plastic-degrading bacteria and have studied the degradation process using plastic as the sole carbon source. However, there are few studies on plastic degradation by plasticdegrading bacteria under the condition of non-sole carbon source. In this study, PBAT-degrading bacteria were isolated from agricultural soils, and an efficient strain named L3, identified as Pseudomonas sichuanensis, was found to be capable of degrading PBAT. P. sichuanensis L3 was co-cultured with PBAT in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth and Minimal Salt Medium (MSM) for four weeks. The weight loss of the PBAT plastic film was 182 % higher in the LB system compared to the MSM system. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the plastic degradation processes. The addition of non-sole carbon sources enhanced the degradation of PBAT plastics by P. sichuanensis L3. This study addressed a knowledge gap by investigating the degradation of plastic-degrading bacteria under conditions where plastic was non-sole carbon source. This findings provide potential applications for the application of plastic-degrading bacteria.