Polar Marine Microbial Communities as Reservoirs of Polyester Degrading Enzymes

Antarctic and Arctic metagenomes contain >680 putative PETase-like sequences, with polar candidates enriched in high-fidelity PETase motifs and cold-active polyesterase activity.

• Why it matters: PET hydrolase diversity is known for temperate and tropical waters, but polar oceans’ reservoir potential for PET-degrading enzymes was unascertained.
• What they did: The study screened polar and non-polar marine metagenomes with HMMs built from experimentally validated PETases, then used phylogenetic/structural analyses and assays on 9 candidates.
• The result: Polyesterase activity was confirmed in 5/9 candidates, including polar-derived variants active at 14–25{degrees}C, alongside widespread MHET hydrolases (209) and TPA-catabolyzing enzymes (442) in reconstructed MAGs.

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