A naturally occurring five-member bacterial consortium isolated from petroleum-polluted coastal soil in Galveston Bay, Texas, and examined for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) biodegradation in carbon-free basal medium with PET granules or MHET. The consortium contains Bacillus thuringiensis 9.1, Bacillus cereus 13.1, and Pseudomonas species strains 9.2, 10, and 13.2. Integrated comparative genomics, secreted-proteome profiling, HPLC, and LC-MS analyses support a distributed PET-degradation model in which Bacillus strains contribute more strongly to extracellular hydrolysis, polymer-surface association, and persistence, while Pseudomonas strains contribute more strongly to aromatic transport, redox balancing, and downstream assimilation of PET-derived intermediates.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacillus thuringiensis 9.1 — ontology label: Bacillus thuringiensis | NCBITaxon:1428 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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N/A |
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| Bacillus cereus 13.1 — ontology label: Bacillus cereus | NCBITaxon:1396 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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N/A |
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| Pseudomonas sp. 9.2 — ontology label: Pseudomonas sp. | NCBITaxon:306 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
CROSS_FEEDER
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N/A |
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| Pseudomonas sp. 10 — ontology label: Pseudomonas sp. | NCBITaxon:306 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
CROSS_FEEDER
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N/A |
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| Pseudomonas sp. 13.2 — ontology label: Pseudomonas sp. | NCBITaxon:306 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
CROSS_FEEDER
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N/A |
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Ecological Interactions
The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.
Bacillus-Pseudomonas PET division of labor
NICHE_PARTITIONINGPARTIAL - the source proposes overlapping functional division between Bacillus-associated surface association/hydrolysis and Pseudomonas-associated aromatic handling from comparative genomics, consortium proteomics and isolate assays. NICHE_PARTITIONING denotes this proposed specialization, not measured competition reduction. The consortium showed the most complete PET-associated transformation, but MHET loss was indistinguishable from Pseudomonas alone. Proteomic detection is not induction relative to matched PET monocultures; MMHET identity is tentative and its detoxification role untested. Product transformation does not establish complete mineralization or member-resolved transfer.
Metabolites: poly(ethylene terephthalate) macromolecule (CHEBI:53259 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), terephthalic acid (CHEBI:15702 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- xenobiotic metabolic process (GO:0006805 · PathwayMech)
Evidence
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PMID:42627158 - PARTIAL (IN_VITRO)"PET depolymerization, oligomer transformation, intermediate detoxification, and downstream aromatic metabolism are distributed across the community"
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PMID:42627158 - PARTIAL (IN_VITRO)"Bacillus contributing more strongly to extracellular hydrolysis, surface association, and persistence, while Pseudomonas are more strongly associated with aromatic transport, redox balancing, and downstream assimilation"
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PMID:42627158 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"the full consortium showed the most complete PET-associated transformation"
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PMID:42627158 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"individual isolates retained partial and strain-specific activities"
Associated Datasets
| Dataset | Type | Repository | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Galveston Bacillus-Pseudomonas consortium genomes
NCBI BioProject containing the hybrid Illumina/Nanopore genome assemblies for the five Bacillus and Pseudomonas strains. |
GENOMICS | NCBI_BIOPROJECT | PRJNA517285 |
Knowledge gaps & discussions (3)
INTERPRETATION OPEN Which predicted horizontal-gene-transfer candidates are directional, recent PET-relevant transfers rather than older shared hydrocarbon-soil adaptation?
The study reports enriched accessory-genome HGT signatures but explicitly interprets most of them as survival, biofilm, stress, regulatory, and core metabolic flexibility rather than direct PET-degradation functions.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Bacillus-Pseudomonas PET division of labor
1 evidence item(s)
no specific transferred gene set was sufficient to explain PET degradation as a recently acquired pathway
Supports leaving HGT direction and PET-specificity as interpretive rather than asserted causal edges.
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Can Pseudomonas strains 10 and 13.2 be assigned distinct strain-specific PET or MHET functions?
The two strains remain distinct BioSamples and community members, but the 2026 comparative analysis collapsed them into one 10/13.2 unit because of near-complete genomic identity and unresolved contributions under consortium conditions.
Attaches to: taxonomy#Pseudomonas sp. 10, taxonomy#Pseudomonas sp. 13.2
1 evidence item(s)
Pseudomonas strains 10 and 13.2 collapsed into a single operational unit for comparative analyses
Supports not assigning different 2026 comparative functions to Pseudomonas strains 10 and 13.2.
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which strain-resolved fluxes and fitness effects explain the proposed PET functional division?
The reviewed main paper lacks matched PET monoculture proteomes for an induction comparison. Consortium MHET loss did not exceed Pseudomonas alone; proposed MMHET identity and detoxification need separate tests. Existing HGT-direction and 10/13.2-resolution gaps remain. Supplementary files and figure images were not reviewed; non-graph sole-carbon wording needs separate review.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Bacillus-Pseudomonas PET division of labor
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
|
Primary publication - Galveston PET-degrading consortium
Primary mSystems article that characterizes the five-member Bacillus-Pseudomonas consortium's PET and MHET metabolism. |
OTHER | PMID:42627158 |
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Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| PET granule substrate loading | 1 | % wt/vol |
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| MHET substrate loading | 0.2 | % wt/vol |
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| Initial five-member consortium density | 0.01 | OD600 |
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Growth Media
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