This is a Bacteria That Eats Plastic

If you look around, you would notice that most of the things are made of plastic. Great part of the plastic gets thrown away in the environment. That results in a lot of disorders of the surface and water ecosystem. Plastic is a material which is made from simple compounds with the process called polymerization.

In 1975 Japanese scientists discovered bacteria which can eat plastic. 

The discovered species was Flavobacterium. So far we have discovered 600 species of bacteria that eat plastic. 

Most of them produce biopolymers. Some of these biopolymers are used for energy. 

The bacteria has types of enzymes which degrade polymers.

However, there are other species that can also eat plastic. The Indian mealmoth (the larvae of Plodia interpunctella) was seen chewing and eating polyethylene films.

 In their digestive system, scientists found two species of bacteria: Enterobacter aburiae and Bacillus sp.

 They are in symbiosis with its larvae. The bacteria digests the plastic to simple compounds. 

That is the reason why these insects can exist in nearly impossible living conditions.

The enzymes have developed after several mutations. Bacteria are microorganisms which mutate very fast and they adapt to environment changes easily. 

This is a result of evolution, of course since there was no plastic in the past. These species of bacteria could be used for cleaning the ocean from the plastic or for recycling.