Marine biodegradation of tailor-made polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) influenced by the chemical structure and associated bacterial communities

Gabrielle Derippe (1, 2) , Léna Philip (1, 3) , Pierre Lemechko (4) , Boris Eyheraguibel (5) , Anne-Leïla Meistertzheim (3) , Mireille Pujo-Pay (1) , Pascal Conan (1) , Valérie Barbe (6) , Stéphane Bruzaud (2) , Jean-François Ghiglione (1)

1 LOMIC - Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne
2 IRDL - Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme
3 OOB - Observatoire océanologique de Banyuls
4 IRMA - Institut Régional des Matériaux Avancés
5 ICCF - Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand
6 UMR 8030 - Génomique métabolique

Over recent years, biodegradable polymers have been proposed to reduce environmental impacts of plastics for specific applications. The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by using diverse carbon sources provides further benefits for the sustainable development of biodegradable plastics. Here, we present the first study evaluating the impact of physical, chemical and biological factors driving the biodegradability of various tailor-made PHAs in the marine environment. Our multidisciplinary approach demonstrated that the chemical structure of the polymer (i.e. the side chain size for short- vs. medium-chain PHA) which was intrinsically correlated to the physico-chemical properties, together with the specificity of the biofilm growing on plastic films (i.e. the associated ‘plastisphere’) were the main drivers of the PHA biodegradation in the marine environment.

Mots clés: Biodegradation; Biosynthesis; Plastisphere; Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA); Biodegradation

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Gabrielle Derippe, Léna Philip, Pierre Lemechko, Boris Eyheraguibel, Anne-Leïla Meistertzheim, et al.. Marine biodegradation of tailor-made polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) influenced by the chemical structure and associated bacterial communities. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2024, 462, pp.132782. ⟨10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132782⟩. ⟨hal-04254412⟩