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Microalgae and associated ecological risks in the coastal plastisphere
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Scientists found that floating ocean plastic acts like a magnet for tiny algae, hosting different and more diverse communities than the surrounding seawater—including several species known to produce harmful toxins. This matters because plastic debris could be helping harmful algae spread to new places or thrive in ways that affect seafood safety and coastal ecosystems, adding a new wrinkle to how ocean plastic pollution impacts marine life and, potentially, the food we eat.
Plastisphere-associated microorganisms add a microbial dimension to the impacts of plastic pollution. Yet microalgae, despite their central roles in coastal productivity, biodiversity, and harmful algal bloom dynamics, remain poorly characterized in the plastisphere. Here, using 92 paired samples of floating plastic debris and surrounding seawater, we aimed to reveal the ecological patterns of plastisphere-associated microalgae and their potential implications in coastal ecosystems. Plastisphere communities were significantly distinct from surrounding seawater communities and exhibited higher alpha-diversity. Diatoms, particularly taxa with benthic or attached ecological traits such as Navicula spp. , were enriched in the plastisphere. The plastisphere also harbored microalgal taxa typically reported from freshwater or terrestrial habitats, such as Mallomonas insignis . Compared with seawater communities, plastisphere microalgal communities showed weaker associations with measured physicochemical factors, suggesting that plastics may provide relatively buffered microhabitats. Using a self-constructed database of harmful and toxic microalgae, we identified 373 potentially harmful/toxic ASVs, including 14 detected exclusively in the plastisphere. Several ASVs affiliated with well-known harmful/toxic diatoms, such as Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata and Skeletonema marinoi , were enriched in the plastisphere. Our findings indicate that plastic debris can selectively assemble and harbor microalgal communities, potentially influencing the ecology and biogeography of marine microalgae and introducing additional uncertainty into coastal ecosystem functioning.
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Functional Ecology of the Microbial Plastisphere
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Scientists found that floating ocean plastic isn't just pollution, it's also a surface where microbes set up shop and behave differently than microbes floating freely in seawater, breaking down complex materials in specialized ways. This matters because it means plastic debris may be creating new microbial hotspots in the ocean, potentially changing how nutrients and pollutants cycle through marine ecosystems that ultimately connect to our food and health.
Toxic plastisphere: How the characteristics of plastic particles can affect colonization of harmful microalgae and adsorption of phycotoxins
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Researchers found that microplastic particles in water can serve as surfaces for harmful algae to grow on and for algae-produced toxins to stick to. Smaller and sun-aged microplastic particles absorbed more toxins than larger or newer ones, meaning the most common microplastics in the environment may carry the greatest risk. This matters for human health because contaminated microplastics could transfer harmful algal toxins into seafood and drinking water.
A new look at the potential role of marine plastic debris as a global vector of toxic benthic algae
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Researchers examined marine plastic debris as a global vector for toxic benthic algae, finding that floating plastics provide colonization surfaces that may expand harmful algal distribution and intensify toxic blooms across ocean regions.
Early eukaryotic plastisphere in a boreal fjord: Identifying colonization drivers and uncovering novel parasite-diatom co-occurrence.
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Scientists studying ocean plastic found that microbial communities growing on it are shaped mainly by when and where the plastic enters the water, not the type of plastic itself. They also spotted a possible parasite linked to diatoms (tiny algae vital to ocean food chains) living on these plastics, raising questions about how growing plastic pollution might disrupt marine ecosystems that humans rely on for food and oxygen.
Salinity-associated freshwater–seawater mixing shapes microalgal colonization on marine plastic debris in an estuarine–coastal mesocosm experiment
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Scientists found that tiny algae grow much faster on floating plastic debris in full-strength ocean water compared to brackish or estuary water, with one type of algae (a diatom) taking over almost completely in salty conditions. This matters because plastic pollution in our oceans isn't just inert trash, it's becoming a living surface that hosts specific microorganisms, which could affect how nutrients, toxins, or even harmful microbes move through the marine food chain and potentially back to the seafood we eat.
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