Lack of functional polyester-biodegrading potential in marine versus terrestrial environments evidenced by an innovative airbrushing technique.

Biodegradable plastics, primarily aliphatic polyesters, degrade to varying extents in different environments. However, the absence of easily implementable techniques for screening microbial biodegradation potential -coupled with the limitations of non-functional omics analyses- has restricted comparative studies across diverse polymer types and ecosystems. In this study, we optimized a novel airbrushing method that facilitates functional analyses by simplifying the preparation of polyester-coated plates for biodegradation screening.