Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in the plastic degradation capabilities of insect because herbivorous insects may be a valuable resource for microorganisms that can break down synthetic plastics. Insects that can digest plastics using their gut microbiota are gaining interest for use in bioremediation, although their environmental benefits remain unknown. However, most plastics biodegraded by insect gut microbes are polyethylene, polystyrene with little knowledge available on the gut microbiome of insects capable of degrading other synthetic plastics. Therefore, there is an urgent need to secure microbial resources based on insect-microbiome interactions and promote end-of-life solutions for synthetic plastics.

• Jong-Hoon Kim(Department of Biotechnology, Pukyong National University, Busan, South Korea)