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22h ago

Researchers Outline Diet and Enzyme Routes to Scale Waxworm Plastic Degradation

Dietary co-supplements are being tested to keep waxworms alive on plastic diets as researchers isolate the enzymes responsible for polyethylene degradation.

Image
Image
plastic-eating caterpillar.
Polyethylene degradation by wax worms. Left: plastic bag after exposure to about 100 wax worms for 12 hours; Right: magnification of the area indicated in the image at left. Image credit: Bombelli et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.060.

Overview

  • Dr. Bryan Cassone presented new findings in Antwerp showing how waxworms oxidize and depolymerize polyethylene into stored lipids.
  • About 2,000 caterpillars can consume a standard plastic bag in 24 hours but succumb within days on an unsupplemented plastic diet.
  • Co-supplemented feeding regimes with sugars and nutrients are under development to restore waxworm mass and extend their survival.
  • The team is mapping gut bacteria interactions and pinpointing the enzymes that drive plastic breakdown for potential lab replication.
  • Two remediation strategies are proposed: mass-rearing waxworms in a circular-economy model and deploying isolated enzymes for industrial-scale plastic treatment.