Ubiquity of polystyrene digestion and biodegradation within yellow mealworms, larvae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Chemosphere
Shan-Shan YangCraig S Criddle

Abstract

Academics researchers and "citizen scientists" from 22 countries confirmed that yellow mealworms, the larvae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, can survive by eating polystyrene (PS) foam. More detailed assessments of this capability for mealworms were carried out by12 sources: five from the USA, six from China, and one from Northern Ireland. All of these mealworms digested PS foam. PS mass decreased and depolymerization was observed, with appearance of lower molecular weight residuals and functional groups indicative of oxidative transformations in extracts from the frass (insect excrement). An addition of gentamycin (30 mg g-1), a bactericidal antibiotic, inhibited depolymerization, implicating the gut microbiome in the biodegradation process. Microbial community analyses demonstrated significant taxonomic shifts for mealworms fed diets of PS plus bran and PS alone. The results indicate that mealworms from diverse locations eat and metabolize PS and support the hypothesis that this capacity is independent of the geographic origin of the mealworms, and is likely ubiquitous to members of this species.

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Citations

May 7, 2020·Frontiers in Microbiology·Jiakang RuYu Yang
Mar 9, 2020·Environmental Pollution·Aneta K UrbanekAleksandra M Mirończuk
Jan 10, 2021·Insects·Hartmut DerlerRené Rehorska
Dec 17, 2020·Frontiers in Microbiology·Nisha MohananDavid B Levin
Jul 8, 2020·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Seongwook WooHyung Joon Cha
Jan 26, 2021·EFSA Journal·UNKNOWN EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)Helle Katrine Knutsen
May 2, 2021·Spectrochimica Acta. Part A, Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy·Christophe SandtAgnès Réjasse
Jun 5, 2021·Biodegradation·Sukhendu MaityKousik Pramanick
Jul 10, 2021·Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology·Efstratios NikolaivitsJasmina Nikodinovic-Runic
Aug 29, 2021·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Paola SangiorgioSimona Errico
Sep 2, 2021·EFSA Journal·UNKNOWN EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)Helle Katrine Knutsen

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