Author(s):
1. Quratulain:
Rawalpindi Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
2. Shamim Akhtar:
Rawalpindi Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
3. Nazneen Bangash:
COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan.
4. Ammara Javed:
Rawalpindi Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
5. Hadia Kalsoom:
Rawalpindi Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
6. Areeba Batool:
Rawalpindi Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
7. Hurria Zahra:
COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan.
Abstract:
Microplastic contamination is now a salient environmental issue considering itsdurability, being non-biodegradable, and severely detrimental to soil health andplant growth. The current study sought to isolate and characterize bacteria withpotential to degrade PET microplastic and use degraded plastic to evaluate itsimpact on plant growth. The strains with plastic degrading ability were isolatedfrom Coastal regions of Pakistan. The strains were used in laboratory to degrademicroplastic at 35-37oC. PTQ strain degraded microplastic upto 62.5%, while46.5 % degradation was degraded with strain GDN. PTQ is closely related toExiguobacterium mexicanum bacteria as evident from 16S RNA sequencing andphylogenetically closely related to E. mexicanum. The morphological changes ofplastic after degradation were confirmed with SEM, while FTIR was used tostudy chemical structural changes, establishing the effective degradation of PETby the bacterial strain. Furthermore, Brassica juncea (mustard) was selected tostudy the effect of treated microplastic on plant growth. The results showed thatplants grown in degraded PET showed significant enhancement in growthparameters, including root length, shoot length, fresh and dry biomass ascompared to untreated PET microplastic plants. The present research establishesa basis for potential application of PET degrading bacteria towards alleviation ofmicroplastic pollution and negative impacts of plastic on plant growth. Theresults suggested that these bacteria after further investigation could beeffectively utilized to degrade PET microplastic and degraded plastic could besafely dumped into soil without effecting plant growth.
Page(s):
63-63
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: 4th International Conference of Sciences “Revamped Scientific Outlook of 21st Century, 2025” , November 12,2025, Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Year: 2025
Keywords:
FTIR
,
SEM
,
Biodegradation
,
Brassica juncea
,
plant growth
,
Bacterial Strains
,
PET
References:
References are not available for this document.
Citations
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