Mustari, S.; Pham, L. T.; Saikkonen, K.; Nakamura, M.; Puigbo, P.

Microplastics and nanoplastics pollution (MNPP) is a major environmental issue due to its small size, long-lasting nature, and potentially harmful impacts on ecosystems and human health. Plastics can be degraded in nature by physical, chemical, and biological processes. Plastic biodegradation is a potential sustainable solution to MNPP, but understanding the fitness of potential plastic-degrading proteins (PPDPs) across environments requires comparative resources. Here, we introduce the Plastic-Degrading Clusters of Orthologous Groups (PDCOGs) database, available at https://phylobone.com/microworld/PDCOG. The resource includes 625,616 PPDPs from free-living prokaryotes classified in 51 PDCOGs. The PDCOG database is a robust resource that improves understanding of plastic biodegradation and supports research on global MNPP challenges. Overall, PDPPs represent 3.5% of proteins in prokaryotes and are widely distributed across the Earth, spanning across most prokaryotic species and environments. Nearly all prokaryotic species (>95%) have the potential to biodegrade at least one polymer type.