Increases in nitrogen (N) availability reduce decay rates of highly lignified plant litter. Although microbial responses to N addition are well documented, the chemical mechanisms that may give rise ...

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic products are produced worldwide, half of which are single-use items discarded within a year. In particular, non-biodegradable plastic waste, which takes over ...

The rigidity, transparency and hardness of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) make it one of the most valuable plastics for the manufacture of plastic bottles, packaging and other single-use products.

One way in which enzymes are used in nature is by bacteria to decompose plant parts. It has been known for some time that some enzymes, so-called polyester-cleaving hydrolases, can also degrade PET.

Rutgers scientists have developed an analytical toolkit to measure the binding forces of single proteins when they are pulled away from their substrate – such as an enzyme – that will help the ...

Cellulase (β-1,4-glucan-4-glucanohydrolase) is a general term for a group of enzymes that degrade cellulose to produce glucose. Cellulase is a kind of complex enzyme, including C1 enzyme, CX enzyme ...

Tiny enzymes could kickstart a new way of recycling plastic. But with no end to our plastic addiction in sight, is this a genuine solution? Buried in the dirt outside a plastic manufacturing plant, ...