Knowledge and Opportunities from the Plastisphere: A Prelude for the Search of Plastic Degrading Bacteria on Coastal Environments

Abstract

Plastic pollution has become an urgent issue, since its invasion to every ecosystem has led to multiple impacts on the environment and human populations. Certain microbial strains and genera had shown the ability to biodegrade plastic sources under laboratory conditions. In this minireview, we collect and analyze scientific papers and reports of this microbial activity as we contextualize this information on the global plastic pollution problem, to provide an updated state of the art of plastic biodegradation with microbial agents. Along with a broad understanding of the general process of plastic biodegradation hosted by microorganisms. The contributions of this minireview come from the identification of research gaps, as well as proposals for new approaches. One of the main proposals focuses on coastal environments and in particular coastal wetlands as a great microbiome source with potential for plastic biodegradation, whether reported or undiscovered. Our final proposal consists of the application of this knowledge into technologic tools and strategies that have a remarkable impact on the battle against the plastic pollution problem.