BARENTS SEA, July 1. /TASS/. Participants in the Arctic Floating University expedition will search the Arctic for fungal and bacterial enzymes that can break down plastics, a TASS correspondent reported from onboard the Professor Molchanov research vessel.
Marina Polyakova, a graduate student at the Baikal Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, at coastal areas of islands in the Arctic will select plastic fragments with biofouling. Animals, plants, fungi and bacteria that settle on parts of plastic litter, may release substances that break down plastics. "Our global goal is to find biodegradation agents for plastics - the organisms that will eventually help us somehow in solving the problem of plastics' accumulation and recycling," she said.
Marina has been studying biofouling on different plastics in Lake Baikal. Experts install special structures at different depths in the lake. Every three months, a diver samples water there. Scientists make tests to identify all the organisms that have managed to settle on the substrate. They single out fungi and bacteria from the entire community as these are most promising for plastics degradation.
"Not every plastic is suitable for this processing - to make plastic from another plastic. Biofouling plastics, as a rule, are not accepted for recycling. And therefore, we hope that microorganisms will help us in solving this problem," she added.
Scientists have discovered both bacteria and fungi that can destroy plastics. Fungi have a rich enzyme apparatus, and their enzymes can act on different types of substrates, they are not specific. As for organisms that live in the Arctic, they live in extreme conditions, so their enzymes may turn out to be more powerful than those of organisms living in more comfortable conditions.
"Their enzymes may turn out to be more active, or at least they will be active in the cold. After all, most of this country is quite cold regions. Therefore, in my opinion, the search for such producers among psychrophiles (cold-loving organisms - TASS) is of the highest importance," she said.
Arctic Floating University - 2024
On June 25, the Arctic Floating University departed from Arkhangelsk to conduct research in the White and Barents Seas, on the Kolguev Island, on islands of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.
The project's partners and sponsors are the Arkhangelsk Region's government, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Russian Geographical Society, VTB Bank, Norilsk Nickel, Roshydromet (the hydrometeorology service), the Russian Arctic National Park, the Floating University Coordination Center at MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; also known as PhysTech), the Nauka (Science) year-round youth educational center.