لخّصلي

The diversity of AP materials is equivalent to their extensive and increasing applications in multiple areas.Moreover, performing long-time experiments is essential since the more quickly eliminated groups, measured in short-time experiments, generate overestimation of the degradation rates because the C-C backbone cleavage, the most recalcitrant segment, is not quantified, providing with false expectations about how long an AP would last to be degraded.The knowledge of genes encoding AP biodegradative enzymes will be a starting point for cloning genes for producing recombinant proteins, developing metabolic engineering strategies, and doing directed evolution research that will open a vast panorama for biotechnological advances.The C-C backbone, the presence of side groups, quaternary carbons, and impurities of AP products significantly affect the biodegradability assessment, which is crucial in defining the magnitude of AP environmental impact.Nevertheless, the current information about the effect AP releases generate and the damages that can be foreseen by their accumulation in the environment, plus the toxicity of some of their components, indicates that regulations for controlling AP use and waste management should be established.An AP biodegradability assessment, which defines the biodegradation rate a polymer is degraded, will depend on the polymer's structure, the microorganisms and the environment where the process is carried out, and the techniques used to quantitate AP degradation.Using isotopic C-labeled AP materials for quantifying transformation to CO2, biomass, or intermediate biodegradation products is the more objective approach.Significant advances in the elucidation of AP biodegradative pathways have been reached, mainly supported by analytical techniques.

The diversity of AP materials is equivalent to their extensive and increasing applications in multiple areas. Because AP materials had been considered not harmful for the environment and human health, no regulations for their use and waste disposal have been implemented in many countries. Nevertheless, the current information about the effect AP releases generate and the damages that can be foreseen by their accumulation in the environment, plus the toxicity of some of their components, indicates that regulations for controlling AP use and waste management should be established. Extensive and detailed analyses about the environmental fates AP could reach after their lifecycles would help develop better waste management strategies.
AP microbial biodegradation can be carried out on some types of polymers and to some extent. An AP biodegradability assessment, which defines the biodegradation rate a polymer is degraded, will depend on the polymer's structure, the microorganisms and the environment where the process is carried out, and the techniques used to quantitate AP degradation. The C-C backbone, the presence of side groups, quaternary carbons, and impurities of AP products significantly affect the biodegradability assessment, which is crucial in defining the magnitude of AP environmental impact. Therefore, unifying the use of techniques for measuring biodegradation would be beneficial for providing comparable data to define accurate biodegradation rates. Using isotopic C-labeled AP materials for quantifying transformation to CO2, biomass, or intermediate biodegradation products is the more objective approach. Moreover, performing long-time experiments is essential since the more quickly eliminated groups, measured in short-time experiments, generate overestimation of the degradation rates because the C-C backbone cleavage, the most recalcitrant segment, is not quantified, providing with false expectations about how long an AP would last to be degraded.
Significant advances in the elucidation of AP biodegradative pathways have been reached, mainly supported by analytical techniques. Nevertheless, many aspects remain to be discovered. The characterization of enzymes accounting for the proposed reactions and the transport of the degradation products into the cells is still missing. Besides, nothing is known about the genes encoding these proteins and the genome organization, expression, and regulation of AP attacking microorganisms. The knowledge of genes encoding AP biodegradative enzymes will be a starting point for cloning genes for producing recombinant proteins, developing metabolic engineering strategies, and doing directed evolution research that will open a vast panorama for biotechnological advances. Furthermore, exploring the catalytic potential of environmental communities with AP degrading capacities by “omics” technologies is a promising strategy for designing tailor-made microbial consortia highly specialized for AP mineralization. Perhaps, future biotechnological-based products might include microorganisms or enzymes with a broad spectrum of activities that might efficiently degrade diverse AP types to prevent their accumulation in the environment.
Finally, we would like to stress that even though science and technology are working for searching solutions for plastic pollution by re-thinking the design of products and by developing holistic strategies to contribute to reducing the impact of polymers to the environment, the regulation for polymer use and waste management is in the governments and industries' hands.