Amazon rainforest finds fungi that degrade plastics

The strong love of human beings for plastic packaging and products seriously threatens many ecosystems on which life depends, which may cause human beings to fall into the greatest man-made environmental disaster. But researchers revealed that they have discovered a fungus that can degrade plastics, which is expected to help humans eliminate this threat.

This ubiquitous synthetic material is mainly used for the manufacture of petrochemical products. Because its chemical bond is quite complex, it makes it resistant to the natural degradation process, so its degradation rate is very slow. Experts believe that since the 1950s, humans have abandoned 1 billion tons of plastics, and this garbage may exist for hundreds or even thousands of years. But US researchers now believe that a kind of fungus can be used to degrade plastics and rescue the world from one of the biggest man-made environmental threats.

A student research group at Yale University in Connecticut discovered a fungus in the Amazon rainforest that degrades ordinary polyurethane plastics, the most widely used material. The data shows that in 2007, more than 12 million tons of polyurethane raw materials were consumed globally, and its utilization rate increased by about 5% per year on average.

As part of the Yale University Rainforest Adventure and Laboratory Education Program, these researchers searched for plants in the rainforest of Ecuador and then used their tissues to grow these microorganisms. In an article in the journal Application and Environmental Microbiology, they wrote: “We collected some of the plant stems from the rainforest of Ecuador and then isolated the endophytes from them. We studied the ability of these organisms to degrade polyurethanes, and finally confirmed several Organisms, such as two different isolates of Microspora nodorum, not only have a strong ability to degrade, but also use polyurethane as the only carbon source when growing under anaerobic conditions."

Endophytes are microorganisms that live in the plant's internal tissues and do not cause their hosts to exhibit any apparent disease symptoms. They often play a key role in the degradation process that occurs after plants die. Previously, researchers had never tested their ability to degrade synthetic materials. Endophytes are most abundant in tropical rain forests. Some trees may live with hundreds of endophytes. Some of them are known, and many are unknown. Yale University researchers said that with the deepening of the study on the characteristics of endophytes, they will find more fungi with the potential to degrade other plastics.

Led Tubes Emergency Kit

The LED tubes emergency kit is making your LED tubes into Emergency Mode, ideal for LED tubes 3-40W Full power emergency output wattage for LED emergency lighting 60-180mins. Automatic lighting up when main power failures. Suitable for LED fitting with external led driver and internal driver. Widely using for parking lot, office, building, warehouse, school, hospital, workshop etc.

Emergency Led Tube,Led Tubes Emergency,T8 Led Emergency Tubes,Led Tubes Emergency Kit,led tube light with battery backup

Foshan Nai An Lighting Electric Co.,ltd , https://www.ledpowerpack.com

Posted on