Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41587207›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2026

PlasticEnz: An integrated database and screening tool combining homology and machine learning to identify plastic-degrading enzymes in meta-omics datasets.

Anna Krzynowek, Jasper Snoeks, Karoline Faust

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Anna KrzynowekDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2259-9344
Jasper SnoeksDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Karoline FaustDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7129-2803

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PlasticEnz is a new open-source tool for detecting plastic-degrading enzymes (plastizymes) in metagenomic data by combining sequence homology-based search with machine learning techniques. It integrates custom Hidden Markov Models, DIAMOND alignments, and polymer-specific classifiers trained on ProtBERT embeddings to identify candidate depolymerases from user-provided contigs, genomes, or protein sequences. PlasticEnz supports 11 plastic polymers with ML classifiers for PET and PHB, achieving F1 > 0.7 on an independent test set. Applied to plastic-exposed microcosms and field metagenomes, the tool recovered known PETases and PHBases, distinguished plastic-contaminated from pristine environments, and clustered predictions with validated reference enzymes. PlasticEnz is fast, scalable, and user-friendly, providing a robust framework for exploring microbial plastic degradation potential in complex communities.

Indexed as

Machine LearningMetagenomicsPlasticsSoftwareBiodegradation, EnvironmentalComputational BiologyHidden Markov ModelsMetagenomePlastics

Identifiers

PMID41587207
PMCPMC12872022

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.