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Conversion of Polyethylenes into Fungal Secondary Metabolites

Authors :
Chris Rabot
Yuhao Chen
Swati Bijlani
Yi‐Ming Chiang
C. Elizabeth Oakley
Berl R. Oakley
Travis J. Williams
Clay C. C. Wang
Source :
Angewandte Chemie. 135
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Wiley, 2022.

Abstract

Waste plastics represent major environmental and economic burdens due to their ubiquity, slow breakdown rates, and inadequacy of current recycling routes. Polyethylenes are particularly problematic, because they lack robust recycling approaches despite being the most abundant plastics in use today. We report a novel chemical and biological approach for the rapid conversion of polyethylenes into structurally complex and pharmacologically active compounds. We present conditions for aerobic, catalytic digestion of polyethylenes collected from post-consumer and oceanic waste streams, creating carboxylic diacids that can then be used as a carbon source by the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. As a proof of principle, we have engineered strains of A. nidulans to synthesize the fungal secondary metabolites asperbenzaldehyde, citreoviridin, and mutilin when grown on these digestion products. This hybrid approach considerably expands the range of products to which polyethylenes can be upcycled.

Details

ISSN :
15213757 and 00448249
Volume :
135
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Angewandte Chemie
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....16846dc1c27af9e39399b41a46ce87d8