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Engineering the PETase Enzyme to More Efficiently Break Down PET Plastics

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a thermoplastic polyester resin containing a high ratio of aromatic components, is widely used in plastic products. PET is unreactive and difficult to degrade, and thus overproduction and improper disposal methods have caused the world's oceans and ecosystems to be polluted with plastic waste. In 2016, Yoshida et al. discovered Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium able to use PET as a carbon source for growth. The enzyme PETase was found to break down PET plastics, but at a slow rate. Our goal is to engineer a PETase with a higher efficiency of PETase hydrolysis. The first step in the process is overexpression and purification of the PETase protein. Colorimetric and liquid chromatography assays will be optimized for determining the rate and efficiency of PET breakdown. PETase mutants will then be engineered to improve enzyme activity under the desired conditions. An optimized PETase enzyme capable of degrading plastics could be the first step to repairing our polluted ecosystems.