Packaging material ، disposable cutlery ، CD cases: polystyrene is one of the most common forms of plastic ، but its recycling is not easy and the vast majority in landfills or the oceans ، threatening marine life. Scientists have found that "super worms" ، content guzzlers ، could be of great help.

It is thanks to their intestinal enzymes that these larvae of the Zophobas morio beetles could hold the key to a higher recycling rate، according to researchers from the Australian University of Queensland.

Chris Rinke، who led a study published Thursday in the journal Microbial Genomics، told AFP that previous research had shown that the tiny wax and mealworms (which are also beetle larvae) when it comes to eating of plastic.

"So we hypothesized that much larger superworms could eat even more," he added.

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Mr. Rinke and his team submitted the superstars of diets for three weeks.  received polystyrene ، others sound ، others still nothing.

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"تؤكد We have that super vs could survive on a polystyrene diet alone، and even gain some weight - compared to a starvation control group - suggesting that the verses gain from polystyrene angie" ، he affirmed.

Although polystyrene superworms have completed their life cycle، becoming nymphs and then fully grown adult beetles، the  have revealed a dept of encrobian in their intestines and desents potency.

These results suggest that although insects can survive on polystyrene, it is not a nutritious diet and has an effect on their health.

Next step، the team used a technology called metagenomics to analyze the gut microbial community and find out which gene-encoded enzymes were involved in plastic breakdown.

One way to use the results would be to supply superworms with food waste or agricultural bioproducts to consume along with polystyrene.

"This could be a way to improve worm health and deal with the large amount of food waste in Western countries," says Rinke.

But if it is possible to raise more worms for this purpose، he is considering another way: to create recycling factories which would imitate what the larvae do, i.e. first shred the plastic and then التخلص.

“Ultimately, we want to remove superworms from the equation,” explained the researcher, who plans more research aimed at finding the most effective worms and then improving them further through enzym-engineering.

ia / iba / dax

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