Superworms with an appetite for polystyrene could become a useful tool for dealing with the planet ’s plastic problem . As account in the journalMicrobial Genomics , scientists from the University of Queensland in Australia have see that the commonZophobas morio“superworm ” can happily brook polystyrene thanks to a bacterial enzyme in their gut .
In fact , their study establish that the superworms that were fed a dieting of strictly polystyrene actually put on a little minute of weightiness , suggest that they may be perfectly well-chosen with live on on this human - made plastic .
“ We did n’t know if the superworms could run through and break down charge card when we get going the experiments , but we were hoping they would , ” Dr Chris Rinke , lead study source from UQ ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences , told IFLScience .
“ Superworms are technically not worms , but are larvae of the darkling beetleZophobas morio . Insect larvae have a account of damaging and eating plastic , ” Dr Rinke added . “ Superworms are enceinte , hence the name ‘ Super ’ , than many other dirt ball larvae in the same family , so we hoped they would be even advantageously accommodate to eat plastic – and it turned out they have a cracking appetite for polystyrene , ” he explained .
Previousstudieshave hinted thatZophobas moriolarvae possess this appetite for plastic , but the latest study drudge a trivial bit deeper by looking at the genetics that support this talent .
To gain a deeper apprehension of their plastic - munching ability , the researchers sequenced the desoxyribonucleic acid of the microbes live in the superworm gut and managed to identify the bacterial factor that cipher for the plastic - degrading enzymes . This knowledge , they say , could be used in the near future tense to screen for other bacteria that encode similar fictile degrading enzymes in their genome .
Utilizing bacterial enzyme is the key to scale up the vision of greener plastic administration , Dr Rinke says . As play off to using tanks take with athirst superworms to do the job , he trust it will be more effective to go straight to the plastic - munch enzyme .
“ We envision that polystyrene waste matter will be gather , mechanically shredded , similarly to what the superworms do , and then disgrace in bioreactors with an enzyme cocktail . The resulting chemical compounds can then be used by other microbe to synthesize products of higher value , such as bioplastics like PHA , ” keep Dr Rinke .
It ’s unclear if and when this ambition will become a world , but it ’s certainly good to have it off we have these creepy-crawly crawlies on our side in the war against credit card .
