Brevibacillus_borstelensis
Brevibacillus borstelensis
Species of bacterium
Brevibacillus borstelensis is a Gram-positive, aerobic, rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium of the genus Brevibacillus. The genome of several B. borstelensis strains have been sequenced.[3]
Brevibacillus borstelensis strain 707 is a thermophilic strain capable of degrading and using polyethylene as its sole source of carbon.[4] This strain was shown to reduce the amount of polyethylene by 30% (30 days at 50°C) and demonstrates that nondegradable plastics like polyethylene can be degraded under appropriate conditions.