Insights into the biodegradation of polycaprolactone through genomic analysis of two plastic-degrading bacteria.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is an aliphatic polyester often utilized as a model to investigate the biodegradation potential of bacteria and the involved catabolic enzymes. This study aims to characterize PCL biodegradative metabolic potential and correlate it to genomic traits of two plastic-degrading bacteria- D4 strain, a new isolate from plastic-rich organic waste treatment plant, and R7, known for its relevant biodegradative potential on polyethylene and similar compounds. After preliminary screening for bacteria capable of hydrolyzing tributyrin and PCL, the biodegradation of PCL was evaluated in . D4 and . R7 by measuring their growth and the release of PCL catabolism products up to 42 days. After 7 days, an increase of at least one order of magnitude of cell number was observed. GC-MS analyses of 28-day culture supernatants showed an increase in carboxylic acids in both cultures. Furthermore, hydrolytic activity (~5 U mg) on short/medium-chain -nitrophenyl esters was detected in their supernatant. Finally, a comparative genome analysis was performed between two strains. A comparison with genes annotated in reference strains revealed hundreds of gene products putatively related to polyester biodegradation. Based on additional predictive analysis of gene products, gene expression was performed on a smaller group of genes, revealing that exposure to PCL elicits the greatest increase in transcription for a single gene in strain R7 and two genes, including that encoding a putative lipase, in strain D4. This work exhibits a multifaceted experimental approach to exploit the broad potential of strains in the field of plastic biodegradation.