Understanding natural plastic biodegradation : case study of tenebrio molitor
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- We live in the "Age of Plastics, " an era in which plastic's versatility, strength, and low production costs have led to its ubiquity and accumulation in the environment. One potential solution to this problem is plastic biodegradation, but current approaches are slow and plastic-specific, limiting their use as a scalable solution. This dissertation explores the rapid biodegradation of plastics in an unexpected natural system: the gut of mealworms (Tenebrio molitor). I discovered that mealworms can degrade chemically dissimilar plastics (polystyrene and polyethylene), rapidly degrading nearly 50% to CO2 within 15 -- 20 hours. These results provide the first evidence of a non-specific degradation mechanism within the mealworm gut and highlight the need for additional research to elucidate this mechanism. I performed the first investigation into the fate of chemical additives during plastic biodegradation and found that mealworms do not bioaccumulate toxic chemical additives within plastics, highlighting their potential use as a feedstock. Finally, I explored the role of the mealworm and its gut microbiome in degrading plastic, discovering novel mechanisms such as the secretion of factors by the mealworm that promote the bioavailability of plastic for microbial attack. This work provides new insights into insect-mediated mechanisms of plastic degradation and opens the door for the cultivation of plastic-degrading microorganisms in future investigations and scale-up. Novel approaches to plastic degradation together with the development of sustainable bioplastics will hopefully enable us to retain the utility of these revolutionary materials while mitigating their harmful environmental effects
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2020; ©2020 |
| Publication date | 2020; 2020 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Brandon, Anja Malawi Drevitch |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Criddle, Craig |
| Thesis advisor | Criddle, Craig |
| Thesis advisor | Luthy, Richard G |
| Thesis advisor | Wu, Weimin |
| Degree committee member | Luthy, Richard G |
| Degree committee member | Wu, Weimin |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Anja Malawi Drevitch Brandon |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2020 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2020 by Anja Malawi Drevitch Brandon
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...