Laboratory evolution reveals the metabolic and regulatory basis of ethylene glycol metabolism by Pseudomonas putida KT2440

New Article published in Environmental Microbiology, 2019

The article "Laboratory evolution reveals the metabolic and regulatory basis of ethylene glycol metabolism by Pseudomonas putida KT2440" has been published by Wing-jin Li et al. in the journal of Environmental Microbiology. Environmental Microbiology is devoted to the advancement of our understanding of microbial interactions and microbial processes in the environment, and this article adresses environmental pollution with plastics.

Link to the puplication!

 

Innovative solutions against plastics in our ocean

The Result Packs of the European Commission reported about P4SB recently

P4SB has been in the spotlight of GreenNews Techno N° 290 (in French)!

Oceans are a reservoir for exponentially increasing amounts of plastic waste

Significant plastic accumulation on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia

Lavers et al reports more than 200 tonnes of plastic on the beaches of an uninhabited island: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43375-4#Fig3. Again, as in many cases, the very well floatable bottles, tooth brushes and the infamous flipsflops are among the most often mentioned plastic items. On the photos fishery equipment is visible, as so often encountered.

Interview with the head of the RWTH Institute for applied microbiology (iAMB)

The positive side-effect of bacteria

Prof. Lars Blank, coordinator of the EU-project P4SB, gave a talk about Pseudomonas putida bacteria and their capability to produce microplastic from man-made plastics at the RWTH kids university - the children loved to hear his phantastic story about "Mirko". The full article in German can be found here.

New Study Paves Path for Synthesizing Enzymes for PET Recycling

Lot of Plastic Produced, Too Little Recycled

A research team from the University of Greifswald and Helmholtz-Zentrum-Berlin (HZB) has solved the molecular structure of the important enzyme MHETase at BESSY II. MHETase was discovered in bacteria and together with a second enzyme - PETase - is able to break down the widely used plastic PET into its basic building blocks. This 3D structure already allowed the researchers to produce a MHETase variant with optimized activity in order to use it, together with PETase, for a sustainable recycling of PET. The results have been published in the research journal Nature Communications. Click here for details!

Plastic Use and Coca-Cola

For the first time, Coca-Cola has revealed it used three million tonnes of plastic packaging in one year.

There is a very interesting new article about the plastic use of the Coca-Cola company. It was published on the BBC News Website on 14th of March 2019. Curious? Go read it here!

Drugstore Companies Rossmann and DM introduce recycling label on their products!

Two of Germany's biggest drustore companies, Rossmann and DM, are now introducing a recycling Label for their products! Curious? Learn more here!

"Apeel Sciences"

Take a look at this great new effort to preserve food! "Apeel Sciences" has made it their goal to "use food to
preserve food".

A short excerpt from their mission statement:

"We look to nature to help the global food system — and all who depend on it — improve quality, reduce waste and ensure an abundant future for our planet."

Curious? Learn more about them on their website!

9th Aachen Spring Cleaning Day 2019

This spring, the 9th Aachen Spring Cleaning Day 2019 will take place on 30th of March!

Curious? Learn more on the Website!

Prof. Blank Appears at RWTH Open Day!

On Friday, 5. April 2019, P4SB's Professor Lars Blank will give a presentation at the RWTH Open Day. He will give a lecture to people who are considering studying at RWTH, introducing them to the Topic of 'plastic recycling with the help of microbes'. His talk will be titled "Wohin mit dem Plastikmüll? Mikroben helfen beim Plastikrecycling!", in English "Where to put all the plastic waste? Microbes as helpers for recycling plastic!". Curious? Go learn more about this and similar opportunities on the RWTH Homepage!