Polyester degradation by soil bacteria: identification of conserved BHETase enzymes in Streptomyces.

The rising use of plastic results in an appalling amount of waste which is scattered into the environment. One of these plastics is PET which is mainly used for bottles. We have identified and characterized an esterase from Streptomyces, annotated as LipA, which can efficiently degrade the PET-derived oligomer BHET.

Compatible solutes determine the heat resistance of conidia.

Background: Asexually developed fungal spores (conidia) are key for the massive proliferation and dispersal of filamentous fungi. Germination of conidia and subsequent formation of a mycelium network give rise to many societal problems related to human and animal fungal diseases, post-harvest food spoilage, loss of harvest caused by plant-pathogenic fungi and moulding of buildings. Conidia are highly stress resistant compared to the vegetative mycelium and therefore even more difficult to tackle.

Comparative analysis reveals the modular functional structure of conjugative megaplasmid pTTS12 of S12: A paradigm for transferable traits, plasmid stability, and inheritance?

Originating from various environmental niches, large numbers of bacterial plasmids have been found carrying heavy metal and antibiotic resistance genes, degradation pathways and specific transporter genes for organic solvents or aromatic compounds. Such genes may constitute promising candidates for novel synthetic biology applications. Our systematic analysis of gene clusters encoded on megaplasmid pTTS12 from S12 underscores that a large portion of its genes is involved in stress response to increase survival under harsh conditions like the presence of heavy metal and organic solvent.

Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges.

Annually, 400 Mt of plastics are produced of which roughly 40% is discarded within a year. Current plastic waste management approaches focus on applying physical, thermal, and chemical treatments of plastic polymers. However, these methods have severe limitations leading to the loss of valuable materials and resources.

Cell-to-cell heterogeneity of phosphate gene expression in yeast is controlled by alternative transcription, 14-3-3 and Spl2.

Dependent on phosphate availability the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expresses either low or high affinity phosphate transporters. In the presence of phosphate yeast cells still express low levels of the high affinity phosphate transporter Pho84. The regulator Spl2 is expressed in approximately 90% of the cells, and is not expressed in the remaining cells.