Engineering a Thermophilic Bacterium for the Consolidated Bioprocessing of PET Waste

Abstract

The persistent accumulation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste presents a growing environmental challenge. Biological strategies that integrate enzymatic PET depolymerization with microbial conversion of the resulting monomers into value-added products offer a promising alternative to conventional recycling. However, effective depolymerization typically requires elevated temperatures, which are incompatible with the growth conditions of most engineered microbial strains. This temperature mismatch has limited the development of integrated biological PET upcycling systems. In this study, we aim to overcome this bottleneck by engineering a thermophilic bacterium capable of both PET degradation and metabolic conversion of PET hydrolysates. By combining the expression of thermostable depolymerizing enzymes with targeted pathway engineering for monomer assimilation, we propose a consolidated bioprocess for efficient PET valorization. Our approach enables one-pot biological PET upcycling under thermophilic conditions and highlights the potential for sustainable, high-efficiency plastic waste bioconversion.