Potential plastic-degrading bacteria
The F18 bacterium was found in a consortium consisting the known PET-degrading bacterium Piscinibacter sakaiensis. The consortium was found degrading PET microplastics. Whole genome sequencing was conducted to determine whether the F18 bacterium harbors genes for plastic-degrading enzymes. WGS found that the bacterium possessed three genes for esterase, carboxyesterase, and hydrolase. The hydrolase has 99% identity with hydrolase produced by Bacillus pumilus, a known PBAT degrader.