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Wax worm saliva and the enzymes therein are the key to polyethylene degradation by Galleria mellonella

A. Sanluis-Verdes, P. Colomer-Vidal, F. Rodríguez-Ventura, M. Bello-Villarino, M. Spinola-Amilibia, E. Ruiz-López, R. Illanes-Vicioso, P. Castroviejo, R. Aiese Cigliano, M. Montoya, P. Falabella, C. Pesquera, L. González-Legarreta, E. Arias-Palomo, M. Solà, T. Torroba, C.F. Arias, F. Bertocchini
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.08.487620
A. Sanluis-Verdes
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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P. Colomer-Vidal
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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F. Rodríguez-Ventura
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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M. Bello-Villarino
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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M. Spinola-Amilibia
2CIB-CSIC, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Madrid, Spain
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E. Ruiz-López
3Department of Structural Biology, Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
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R. Illanes-Vicioso
3Department of Structural Biology, Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
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P. Castroviejo
4Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and PCT, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain
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R. Aiese Cigliano
5Sequentia Biotech SL, Barcelona, Spain
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M. Montoya
6CIB-CSIC, Department of Molecular Biomedicine, Madrid, Spain
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P. Falabella
7Department of Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
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C. Pesquera
8Department of Chemistry and Process & Resource Engineering, Inorganic Chemistry Group-University of Cantabria, Nanomedicine-IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
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L. González-Legarreta
8Department of Chemistry and Process & Resource Engineering, Inorganic Chemistry Group-University of Cantabria, Nanomedicine-IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
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E. Arias-Palomo
2CIB-CSIC, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Madrid, Spain
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M. Solà
3Department of Structural Biology, Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (IBMB)-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
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T. Torroba
4Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and PCT, University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain
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C.F. Arias
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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  • For correspondence: clemente.fernandez@cib.csic.es federica.bertocchini@csic.es
F. Bertocchini
1Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas-Margarita Salas (CIB)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Department of Plant and Microbe Biology, Madrid, Spain
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  • For correspondence: clemente.fernandez@cib.csic.es federica.bertocchini@csic.es
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ABSTRACT

Plastic degradation by biological systems with re-utilization of the by-products can be the future solution to the global threat of plastic waste accumulation. We report that the saliva of Galleria mellonella larvae (wax worms) is capable of oxidizing and depolymerizing polyethylene (PE), one of the most produced and sturdy polyolefin-derived plastics. This effect is achieved after a few hours’ exposure at room temperature and physiological conditions (neutral pH). The wax worm saliva can indeed overcome the bottleneck step in PE biodegradation, that is the initial oxidation step. Within the saliva, we identified two enzymes that can reproduce the same effect. This is the first report of enzymes with this capability, opening up the way to new ground-breaking solutions for plastic waste management through bio-recycling/up-cycling.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/t7b5s58vxt/2

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Wax worm saliva and the enzymes therein are the key to polyethylene degradation by Galleria mellonella
A. Sanluis-Verdes, P. Colomer-Vidal, F. Rodríguez-Ventura, M. Bello-Villarino, M. Spinola-Amilibia, E. Ruiz-López, R. Illanes-Vicioso, P. Castroviejo, R. Aiese Cigliano, M. Montoya, P. Falabella, C. Pesquera, L. González-Legarreta, E. Arias-Palomo, M. Solà, T. Torroba, C.F. Arias, F. Bertocchini
bioRxiv 2022.04.08.487620; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.08.487620
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Wax worm saliva and the enzymes therein are the key to polyethylene degradation by Galleria mellonella
A. Sanluis-Verdes, P. Colomer-Vidal, F. Rodríguez-Ventura, M. Bello-Villarino, M. Spinola-Amilibia, E. Ruiz-López, R. Illanes-Vicioso, P. Castroviejo, R. Aiese Cigliano, M. Montoya, P. Falabella, C. Pesquera, L. González-Legarreta, E. Arias-Palomo, M. Solà, T. Torroba, C.F. Arias, F. Bertocchini
bioRxiv 2022.04.08.487620; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.08.487620

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