Biodegradation of polystyrene by intestinal symbiotic bacteria isolated from mealworms, the larvae of Tenebrio molitor .

Objectives: Polystyrene is a plastic that leads to environmental pollution. In particular, expanded polystyrene is very light and takes up much space, causing additional environmental problems. The aim of this study was to isolate new symbiotic bacteria which degraded polystyrene from mealworms.
Methods: The population of polystyrene degrading bacteria was increased by enrichment culture of intestinal bacteria from mealworms with polystyrene as a sole carbon source. The degradation activity of isolated bacteria was evaluated by morphological change of micro-polystyrene particles and the surface change of polystyrene films.
Results: Eight isolated species ( Acinetobacter septicus , Agrobacterium tumefaciens , Klebsiella grimontii , Pseudomonas multiresinivorans , Pseudomonas nitroreducens , Pseudomonas plecoglossicida , Serratia marcescens , and Yokenella regensburgei ) were identified that degrade polystyrene.
Conclusion: Bacterial identification shows that a broad spectrum of bacteria decomposing polystyrene coexists in the intestinal tract of mealworms.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2023 The Authors.)