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Colonization of Non-biodegradable and Biodegradable Plastics by Marine Microorganisms
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Researchers compared how marine microorganisms colonize conventional and biodegradable plastics over six weeks in natural seawater, finding that biodegradable polymers attracted higher levels of active, specialized bacteria than non-biodegradable polyethylene. The study traced distinct bacterial succession patterns across three colonization phases, providing new insights into biofouling dynamics on different polymer types.
Plastics are ubiquitous in the oceans and constitute suitable matrices for bacterial attachment and growth. Understanding biofouling mechanisms is a key issue to assessing the ecological impacts and fate of plastics in marine environment. In this study, we investigated the different steps of plastic colonization of polyolefin-based plastics, on the first one hand, including conventional low-density polyethylene (PE), additivated PE with pro-oxidant (OXO), and artificially aged OXO (AA-OXO); and of a polyester, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), on the other hand. We combined measurements of physical surface properties of polymers (hydrophobicity and roughness) with microbiological characterization of the biofilm (cell counts, taxonomic composition, and heterotrophic activity) using a wide range of techniques, with some of them used for the first time on plastics. Our experimental setup using aquariums with natural circulating seawater during 6 weeks allowed us to characterize the successive phases of primo-colonization, growing, and maturation of the biofilms. We highlighted different trends between polymer types with distinct surface properties and composition, the biodegradable AA-OXO and PHBV presenting higher colonization by active and specific bacteria compared to non-biodegradable polymers (PE and OXO). Succession of bacterial population occurred during the three colonization phases, with hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria being highly abundant on all plastic types. This study brings original data that provide new insights on the colonization of non-biodegradable and biodegradable polymers by marine microorganisms.
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This study compares how microbial communities colonize and form biofilms on conventional plastics versus biodegradable alternatives when submerged in marine environments. Researchers found differences in the composition and development speed of biofilms depending on the plastic substrate type. These findings have implications for understanding how plastic material choice affects microbial ecology and the broader marine environment.
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This study examined microbial colonization of four plastic types (PE, PS, PET, nylon) in ex-situ North Sea incubation experiments over 45 days, finding that time, seawater origin, and plastic type significantly influenced community succession. Several genera with plastic degradation potential were identified, with Ketobacter and Microbacterium showing preference for specific plastic substrates, supporting the role of microbes in marine plastic biodegradation.
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Researchers characterized bacterial biofilms colonizing ocean plastic surfaces (the "plastisphere") across Pacific and Mediterranean expeditions, identifying a core microbiome distinct from surrounding seawater, and demonstrated biodegradation of bioplastics like PHBV by isolating an Alteromonas strain carrying depolymerase genes capable of breaking down the polymer.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.