Introduction

Some fungi eat plastic. Could this be a solution to plastic waste?  While plastic-eating fungi offer a compelling approach to plastic pollution, there is more to the story.  On today’s show, we are addressing a long awaited topic on the interaction between fungi and plastic materials. From mycoremediation and degradation, microplastics, polymer science and ecological observations.

We welcome not just one, but four PhD students from Bayreuth University’s Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1357 Microplastics. Among them are:

Yuanhu Zhang,  who has a background in Polymer Science and Engineering and is currently at the department of Macromolecular Chemistry II at the University of Bayreuth.

Julia Möller, from the Department of Animal Ecology I (Supervisor Prof. Christian Laforsch), University of Bayreuth. Julia has a background in environmental engineering and microplastics.

Stephan Rohrbach, an environmental microbiologist at the Institute of Microbiology of Leibniz University Hannover (Supervisor Prof. Marcus A. Horn) and is currently working on his PhD within the CRC 1357 Microplastic.

Gerasimos Gkoutselis, a molecular ecologist  currently pursuing his PhD at the Chair of the renowned mycologist Professor Dr Gerhard Rambold. Gerasimos is at the Department of Mycology at Bayreuth.

Join us and this dream team to get up to speed with how fungi and plastic interact in the environment.

Topics Covered:

• History of plastics and microplastic
• Defining bioplastics and alternatives to plastic materials
• The pros and cons of bioplastics
• The geometry of microplastics and how their forms impact how they interact with the environment
• Potential impacts of microplastic on animals and the ecology
• Current understandings in microbial responses to plastic substrates
• Mycobiome of microplastics and why pathogenic species are more pervasive
• Practical solutions for reducing plastics in our environment
• What makes plastic difficult to breakdown
• Predicting future applications of fungi and plastics

Show notes:

• CRC 1357 Mikroplastik: https://www.sfb-mikroplastik.uni-bayreuth.de/en/index.html
• "Microplastics accumulate fungal pathogens in terrestrial ecosystems”: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92405-7.epdf
  • Press Release: https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/en/university/press/press-releases/2021/100-microplastics-fungi/index.html
• More publications: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AJ8k1JXDao2I-irUOqiFhwigWpVDhuA_?usp=sharing
• CRC 1357 Mikroplastik Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SFB1357

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