use your imagination: Required polymer to be degraded can be used as the only available carbon source in a your chosen synthetic growth medium broth where nitrogen source and others are inorganic in nature with no carbon content ..

pay attention to mimic the mother land from where the microbe was selected by using its water broth as source for minerals and nutrients for growth in a pre-test

added to that, isolation source mineral contents are well analyzed and its EC and pH values are known as they might play an important role in their growth

we used areas (water & soil) where the polymers were dumped in .. as assuming that microbes that can succeed to grow beside may have the ability to use them as nutrients, specially where the mother soil is poor in nutrients as in arid soil

after incubation for a sufficient time and following microbial growth, you can apply pure forms of those growing microbes on solid medium where the polymer or a similar in structure standard is used as carbon source

Optimization for medium contents and growth conditions whether they are incubated on shaker incubators or not ,

Sometimes it was found that a pretreatment for the polymer was efficient to accelerate its degradation microbially such as heat of sterilization or addition of oxidizing agents

wishing you all good luck in your becoming work

The identification and isolation of microorganisms that can degrade plastic or oil from a sample involves several steps. Here is a general approach to achieve this:

1. Sample preparation: Take a sample from the environment where you suspect the presence of degrading microorganisms. You can use sampling tools such as a sterile spatula, a sterile pipette, or a sterile cotton swab to do this. It is important to work under sterile conditions to avoid cross-contamination. 2. Enrichment: Once the sample is prepared, you can culture it in a suitable medium containing nutrients for the microorganisms. The choice of medium depends on the type of microorganism to be isolated. For example, you can use oil or hydrocarbon-enriched medium to isolate hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria.

3. Incubation: Cultures must be incubated at the optimum temperature so that the growth of the microorganisms is isolated. Incubation times can vary depending on the type of microorganism and the medium used.

4. Identification: Once you have obtained a pure culture of microorganisms, you can proceed to identify them. Identification methods may include microscopic observation, Gram stain, PCR, DNA sequencing, mass spectrometry, etc. 5. Degradability test: You can perform degradability tests to determine if the identified microorganisms are able to degrade plastics or oils. These tests may include tests on microbial growth in the presence of plastics or oils, tests for the production of degradation enzymes or chemical analyzes to detect the degradation of the substance.

It is important to note that the identification and isolation of degrading microorganisms can be a complex process and success depends on many factors, including sample quality and choice of medium.

Microorganisms that can degrade plastic or oil can be found in a variety of natural environments, such as contaminated soil, sewage, sewage treatment plants, compost, landfills, mangroves, and the seabed. Here are some ways to find these microorganisms:

1. Wastewater treatment plants: Wastewater is rich in organic matter, making it an environment favorable to the growth of microorganisms that break down plastic or oil. Sewage sludge can also contain interesting microorganisms.

2. Contaminated soil: Hydrocarbon-contaminated soil can also be a source of oil-degrading microorganisms.

3. Landfills: Organic waste placed in landfills can also contain microorganisms that can break down plastic or oil.

4. Mangroves and seabed: Mangroves and seabed are an environment rich in microorganisms that break down plastic or oil due to decomposing organic matter. 5. Special laboratories: Many special laboratories study microorganisms that can break down plastic or oil. They can provide strains of microorganisms for research or commercial products for waste degradation.

It is important to note that the search for microorganisms that degrade plastic or oil can be difficult and often requires special techniques to isolate and identify them. Therefore, it is recommended to contact experts in the relevant field for specific advice.

Please don't play the silly plastic degradation game. Most of the research in this effort is sophomoric and meaningless. Plastics include small molecule binders and fillers that composes 20-50% of what we call "plastic". Those binders and fillers are degradable result is weight and structure loss - while the native "plastic " polymer is released unchanged as small particles.

Article Aspergillus terreus, Penicillium sp. and Bacillus sp. isolat...

Ahmed Mohy Eldin

Thanks for the paper - I think it clearly displays my above point. Plastic bags are in fact a littering issue - not a solid waste issue. As film, they offer no effective volume in landfill and are readily conusumed in waste-to-energy.

Authors reported 24% weight loss in 105 days in enriched liquid lab culture. Within the range of additives and please consider the particulates liberated.

And note the publication is in "Process Biochemistry" - hardly the forum that would find reviewers intimate to plastic bag composition.

Phil Geis

In science upgoing knowledge .. there are no postulates

Just to keep on trying, discover and innovate if possible .. resolve problems

Plastic bags and other plastic forms have been establishing not only physical problems in soil like blocking water path, air and sunlight in soil interface, interfering living creatures lifepath, but also have their biological consequences readily seen all over the planet

Best wishes for all

Ahmed Mohy Eldin

Blocking sunlight? Let's see the data please - the real data, not scare mongering contrivances.

There are instances of impact on marine life, the extent of which is not known.

Consequences all over the planet - please elaborate.

Again, this is a littering issue - improper disposal of material primarily by countries in SE Asia and Africa.