Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a mass-produced fossil-based plastic polymer that contributes to catastrophic levels of plastic pollution. Here we demonstrated that Tenebrio molitor (mealworms) was capable of rapidly biodegrading two commercial PET resins (microplastics) with respective weight-average molecular weight (M_w) of 39.33 and 29.43 kDa and crystallinity of 22.8 ± 3.06% and 18 ± 2.25%, resulting in an average mass reduction of 71.03% and 73.28% after passage of their digestive tract, and respective decrease by 9.22% and 11.36% in M_w of residual PET polymer in egested frass. Sequencing of 16 S rRNA gene amplicons of gut microbial communities showed that dominant bacterial genera were enriched and associated with PET degradation. Also, PICRUSt prediction exhibited that oxidases (monooxygenases and dioxygenases), hydrolases (cutinase, carboxylesterase and chitinase), and PET metabolic enzymes, and chemotaxis related functions were up-regulated in the PET-fed larvae. Additionally, metabolite analyses revealed that PET uptake caused alterations of stress response and plastic degradation related pathways, and lipid metabolism pathways in the T. molitor larvae could be reprogrammed when the larvae fed on PET. This study provides new insights into gut microbial community adaptation to PET diet under nutritional stress (especially nitrogen deficiency) and its contribution to PET degradation.

聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET) 是一种大规模生产的化石塑料聚合物，会造成灾难性的塑料污染。在这里，我们证明黄粉虫（黄粉虫）能够快速生物降解两种商业 PET 树脂（微塑料），其重均分子量（M _w）分别为 39.33 和 29.43 kDa，结晶度分别为 22.8 ± 3.06% 和 18 ± 2.25%，导致通过消化道后质量平均减少71.03%和73.28%，M _{w分别减少9.22%和11.36%}排出的粪便中残留的 PET 聚合物。对肠道微生物群落 16 S rRNA 基因扩增子的测序表明，优势细菌属富集并与 PET 降解相关。此外，PICRUSt 预测表明，在 PET 喂养的幼虫中，氧化酶（单加氧酶和双加氧酶）、水解酶（角质酶、羧酸酯酶和几丁质酶）和 PET 代谢酶以及趋化性相关功能均上调。此外，代谢物分析表明，PET 的摄取导致黄粉虫中应激反应和塑料降解相关途径以及脂质代谢途径的改变当幼虫以 PET 为食时，幼虫可以被重新编程。这项研究为营养应激（尤其是氮缺乏）下肠道微生物群落对 PET 饮食的适应及其对 PET 降解的贡献提供了新的见解。