bacteria; fungi; screening; plastic-polymer degradation; Trichoderma hamatum

Microorganisms colonizing plastic waste material collected in composting-, landfill-,and anaerobic digestion plants were isolated to obtain novel strains maximally adapted to thedegradation of plastics due to long-term contact with plastic polymers. Twenty-six bacterial strainswere isolated and identified by the 16 S rRNA method, and eighteen strains of yeasts and fungi using18 S rRNA and the internal transcribed spacer ITS sequencing of the 18 S rRNA gene. In selectedstrains, the ability to degrade linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), low-density polyethylene(LDPE), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was tested in aerobic liquid-medium cultures.An oxidative, two-step pretreatment of LLDPE and LDPE using γ- or UV-irradiation followed by ahigh-temperature treatment was carried out, and the pretreated plastics were also included in thedegradation experiments. The respective weight losses after biodegradation by Trichoderma hamatumwere: virgin and γ/T90-pretreated LLDPE (2.2 ±1.2 and 3.9 ± 0.5%), virgin and UV/T60-pretreatedLDPE (0.5 ± 0.4 and 1.3 ± 0.4%), and virgin PS (0.9 ± 0.4%). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) analysis showed that during the treatment of pretreated LLDPE, T. hamatum attacked lowmolecular weight LLDPE oligomers, reducing the functional groups (carbonyl C = O), which wasparalleled by a slight increase of the molar mass of pretreated LLDPE and a decrease of the dispersityindex, as demonstrated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) highlighted the formation of functional groups on LLDPE due to polymer pretreatment thatfavored fungal attack at the polymer surface. The results provide insight into microbial consortia thatspontaneously colonize the surface of plastics in various environments and their capability to attackplastic polymers.