Some Fungi Degrade Polyurethanes
Conidia and conidiophore of Cladosporium cladosporioides (Source: commons.wikimedia.org) Fungi , a separate kingdom in living organisms, includes vast numbers of species with diverse usage to humanity and roles in the ecosystem. They are known to have a potential to reduce human-induced pollution by degrading numbers of toxic as well as non-toxic xenobiotics and transforming a wide variety of hazardous chemicals. In a recent study done by a group of scientists under the leadership of Ivano Brunner from Switzerland showed an ability of fungi to degrade plastic waste in the environment. The results are published in the PLOS ONE journal (Date: August 22, 2018) showing the power of fungi isolated from plastic debris floating in the shoreline of Zurich lake, Switzerland, to degrade plastics. Memory foam cushion made up of viscoelastic polyurethane (Source: commons.wikimedia.org) The team of researchers isolated over a hundred fungal strains and grouped them on the bas