In a new discovery, scientists have identified a marine fungus capable of consuming plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, offering a glimmer of hope in the fight against oceanic plastic pollution. The fungus, known as Parengyodontium album, was discovered clinging to plastic debris within the expansive North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a region notorious for accumulating floating waste.
Source: Ai PFN Archives_ Underwater depiction of fungus eating plastic
This remarkable find was made possible through the collaborative efforts of marine microbiologists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), alongside peers from Utrecht University, the Ocean Cleanup Copenhagen. Their research, recently highlighted on Phys.org, involved isolating and cultivating the fungus in a lab setting to observe its unique capabilities.
What sets this fungus apart is its ability to break down polyethylene, the most commonly produced plastic, after it has been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. "The ability to quantify the degradation process of polyethylene at a rate of about 0.05 percent per day is scientifically outstanding," said Annika Vaksmaa, lead author of the study. She explained the fungus utilises sunlight as an energy source, thus limiting its activity to plastics that have floated near the ocean's surface and have been exposed to sunlight.
Although Parengyodontium album converts most of the broken-down plastic into carbon dioxide, its capacity to address the pervasive issue of plastic pollution is significant. This fungus joins only a handful of other fungi known to degrade plastic, providing a potentially valuable tool in managing the vast quantities of plastic that end up in our oceans.
However, it remains to be seen whether this fungus can tackle land-based plastic pollution, as its dependency on UV-light exposure suggests a limitation to its applicability in less sunny environments. Nevertheless, this discovery fuels hope for developing innovative solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of plastic waste, both in the oceans and potentially on land.
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