Abstract
Kim et al. isolated a polystyrene-degrading bacterium from the gut of the superworm (Zophobas atratus) and identified it as Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50071. However, the original P. aeruginosa DSM 50071 was isolated before 1946 from an unknown source by researchers from Merck Sharp & Dohme. To claim that the superworm bacterial isolate is the same P. aeruginosa DSM 50071 strain is misleading. The two strains are different, and the original DSM 50071 strain may or may not degrade polystyrene. The recommendation to Kim et al. is to label the strain isolated from the superworm with a unique code, to re-sequence its 16S rRNA gene to near completeness, and to deposit the culture in a public collection so that other researchers and society may benefit from its study.
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