The research team has identified and biochemically described the PET-degrading enzyme PET46 from a deep-sea microorganism for the first time.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common type of plastic used to make bottles, containers, and synthetic fibres.
PET46 has many unusual properties and adds to the scaffold diversity of PET-active enzymes.
It has the ability to degrade both very long-chain PET molecules, known as polymers, and short-chain PET molecules, known as oligomers, which means that degradation can be continuous.