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Plastisphere composition in a subtropical estuary: Influence of season, incubation time and polymer type on plastic biofouling
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Scientists studied the communities of bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms that grow on plastic debris floating in a Brazilian estuary over a full year. They found that these plastic-riding hitchhikers included potential disease-causing germs that can harm fish, shrimp, and algae, including species we eat, and that the mix of organisms changed with the seasons rather than the type of plastic. This matters because plastic waste in our waterways isn't just physical pollution, it can act as a raft for harmful microbes, potentially spreading disease through seafood and aquatic ecosystems that humans depend on.
Plastics are abundant artificial substrates in aquatic systems that host a wide variety of organisms (the plastisphere), including potential pathogens and invasive species. Plastisphere communities have many complex, but not well-understood ecological interactions. It is pivotal to investigate how these communities are influenced by the natural fluctuations in aquatic ecosystems, especially in transitional environments such as estuaries. Further study is needed in subtropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere, where plastic pollution is ever increasing. Here we applied DNA-metabarcoding (16S, 18S and ITS-2) as well Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to assess the diversity of the plastisphere in the Patos Lagoon estuary (PLE), South Brazil. Through a one-year in situ colonization experiment, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plates were placed in shallow waters, and sampled after 30 and 90 days within each season. Over 50 taxa including bacteria, fungi and other eukaryotes were found through DNA analysis. Overall, the polymer type did not influence the plastisphere community composition. However, seasonality significantly affected community composition for bacteria, fungi and general eukaryotes. Among the microbiota, we found Acinetobacter sp., Bacillus sp., and Wallemia mellicola that are putative pathogens of aquatic organisms, such as algae, shrimp and fish, including commercial species. In addition, we identified organisms within genera that can potentially degrade hydrocarbons (e.g. Pseudomonas and Cladosporium spp). This study is the first to assess the full diversity and variation of the plastisphere on different polymers within a subtropical Southern Hemisphere estuary, significantly expanding knowledge on plastic pollution and the plastisphere in estuarine regions.
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Researchers examined how biofilms form on plastic debris in aquatic environments and how the resulting microbial communities evolve over time, finding that the plastisphere hosts distinct microbial assemblages including potential pathogens. The study has implications for understanding plastic debris as a vector for microbial dispersal.
The ecology of the plastisphere: Microbial composition, function, assembly, and network in the freshwater and seawater ecosystems
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Researchers studied the communities of bacteria and fungi that colonize microplastic surfaces in freshwater and seawater, forming what scientists call the plastisphere. These microplastic-associated communities were distinctly different from those in surrounding water, and included a higher proportion of disease-causing organisms and species involved in pollutant degradation. The findings suggest that microplastics create new habitats that can harbor pathogens and alter natural microbial ecosystems in ways that may affect water quality and human health.
From rivers to marine environments: A constantly evolving microbial community within the plastisphere
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Researchers sampled 107 plastic pieces across four aquatic ecosystems in southern France and found that the sampling location and polymer chemistry were the strongest drivers of plastisphere microbial community composition, while only 11% of samples showed elevated Vibrio pathogen levels compared to surrounding water.
Marine Plastisphere
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Plastic waste in the ocean isn't just floating debris — it's covered in living microbial communities, sometimes called the "plastisphere," that can include harmful bacteria and can carry pollutants through the marine food chain. This review pulls together current research on how these microbes grow on plastic and interact with ocean chemicals, highlighting concerns that this could help spread disease-causing germs and contaminants to seafood and, ultimately, to people. The authors note that scientists still don't fully understand how these microbial hitchhikers form or exactly how risky they are, so more research is needed before we can accurately assess the health risks.
Plastisphere–biofouling nexus: a systematic and bibliometric synthesis of emerging microbial assemblages on microplastics in coastal waters
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Tiny plastic bits floating in coastal waters act like rafts for bacteria, forming a slimy microbial community scientists call the "plastisphere" — and this review of 124 studies found that some potentially harmful bacteria, like Vibrio (a group that includes food poisoning and infection-causing strains), can be part of that mix. However, the evidence is still too inconsistent to say whether these plastic-riding microbes actually pose a real risk to human health, so more standardized research is needed before drawing firm conclusions.
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