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<p>Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) persists in ecosystems owing to its recalcitrance and the limited availability of recycling strategies. Although bacterial biodegradation represents a sustainable alternative, only few organisms possess the complete enzymatic pathway for PET mineralization. In this study, we systematically screened 48,922 fully sequenced bacterial genomes using a comprehensive computational framework integrating sequences similarity, gene-context analyses, conserved motifs identification, and three-dimensional structural evaluation. Candidate enzymes were predicted for the four key stages of PET degradation, namely, PET hydrolysis (PETases), mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate breakdown (MHETases), terephthalate (TPA) catabolism, and protocatechuate (PCA) assimilation. Our analyses predicted a total of 99 PETases in 89 species, predominantly belonging to <i>Streptomyces</i> and <i>Pseudomonas</i>. In addition, 569 putative MHETases were predicted across 207 species belonging to 85 genera, with notable enrichment in <i>Burkholderia</i> and <i>Novosphingobium</i>. Furthermore, 3252 TPA catabolic and 13,413 PCA assimilation gene clusters were predicted, indicating that downstream catabolic pathways are considerably more widespread than initial PET depolymerization steps. <i>Piscinibacter gummiphilus</i> emerged as a promising candidate for near-complete PET degradation, harboring multiple copies of PETase and MHETase, together with the entire TPA operon. However, only 0.6% of species were found to encode MHETase, TPA catabolism, and PCA assimilation pathways together, highlighting the rarity of near-complete PET degradation. The findings from the computational analyses enabled prediction of potential two- and three-member bacterial consortia capable of collectively achieve complete PET degradation. Overall, the present study expands the known catalog of PET-degrading bacteria and provides a genome-guided framework for rational design of bacterial consortia for sustainable plastic bioremediation.</p> Grahical abstract <p></p>

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Comprehensive computational analyses reveal potential bacterial consortia for complete PET degradation

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月23日

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  • Mitali Merchant,
  • Sharmila S. Mande

摘要

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) persists in ecosystems owing to its recalcitrance and the limited availability of recycling strategies. Although bacterial biodegradation represents a sustainable alternative, only few organisms possess the complete enzymatic pathway for PET mineralization. In this study, we systematically screened 48,922 fully sequenced bacterial genomes using a comprehensive computational framework integrating sequences similarity, gene-context analyses, conserved motifs identification, and three-dimensional structural evaluation. Candidate enzymes were predicted for the four key stages of PET degradation, namely, PET hydrolysis (PETases), mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate breakdown (MHETases), terephthalate (TPA) catabolism, and protocatechuate (PCA) assimilation. Our analyses predicted a total of 99 PETases in 89 species, predominantly belonging to Streptomyces and Pseudomonas. In addition, 569 putative MHETases were predicted across 207 species belonging to 85 genera, with notable enrichment in Burkholderia and Novosphingobium. Furthermore, 3252 TPA catabolic and 13,413 PCA assimilation gene clusters were predicted, indicating that downstream catabolic pathways are considerably more widespread than initial PET depolymerization steps. Piscinibacter gummiphilus emerged as a promising candidate for near-complete PET degradation, harboring multiple copies of PETase and MHETase, together with the entire TPA operon. However, only 0.6% of species were found to encode MHETase, TPA catabolism, and PCA assimilation pathways together, highlighting the rarity of near-complete PET degradation. The findings from the computational analyses enabled prediction of potential two- and three-member bacterial consortia capable of collectively achieve complete PET degradation. Overall, the present study expands the known catalog of PET-degrading bacteria and provides a genome-guided framework for rational design of bacterial consortia for sustainable plastic bioremediation.

Grahical abstract