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Structure and assembly mechanisms of different microbial taxa in plastisphere in coastal wetlands: An in-situ culture experiment
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Microplastics in coastal wetlands don't just pollute—they create tiny "islands" that host their own simplified, tight-knit microbial communities, and biodegradable plastics (often marketed as eco-friendly) actually cause bigger disruptions to these communities than traditional plastics do. This matters because these altered microbial hubs can potentially concentrate harmful bacteria and change how carbon and nitrogen cycle through coastal ecosystems, which humans rely on for fisheries, water filtration, and climate regulation. The good news: coastal plants (like marsh vegetation) helped buffer some of these negative
Microplastics (MPs), an emerging global pollutant, create a distinct "plastisphere" niche on their surfaces in coastal wetlands, yet its effects on microbial community structure and assembly remain poorly understood. Through in situ incubation, high-throughput sequencing, and ecological modeling, this study systematically revealed differences in microbial community structure, function, and assembly mechanisms between the plastisphere and surrounding sediment, and further examined the modulating roles of vegetation type (vegetated P site vs. bare I site) and polymer degradability (traditional: PP, PET; biodegradable: PLA, PBAT). Compared to the surrounding sediment, the plastisphere shifts microbial assembly from dispersal limitation (75.4-79.2%) dominated by physical isolation to co-dominated by homogeneous selection (12.5-44.2%, driven by MPs surface properties) and ecological drift (55.8-84.0%, intensified by MPs physicochemical properties). This shift provides an intrinsic ecological explanation for the observed structural simplification (diversity reduction, rare taxa loss) and functional specialization of plastisphere communities. Notably, the plastisphere also significantly altered the abundance of functional genes involved in carbon/nitrogen cycling, an effect particularly pronounced on biodegradable MPs. Network analysis indicated that plastisphere co-occurrence networks have fewer nodes, while microbial connectivity and cooperative interactions are significantly enhanced, reflecting microbial adaptive strategies to the new habitat. This restructuring of both community architecture and function suggests that MPs may change local biogeochemical cycling potential while increasing the risks of pathogen enrichment and uncertainty in community dynamics. Furthermore, vegetation presence partially mitigated the negative impact of MPs on bacterial diversity, primarily by altering the sediment background community. Our findings provide a scientific understanding for assessing the ecological impact of MPs in coastal ecosystems.
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Estuarine Microbiomes And Biogeochemistry: Impacts Of Spatiotemporal Variation, Algal Blooms, And Microplastics
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Researchers investigated how microplastics affect the microbial communities in an estuary (a coastal mixing zone of fresh and salt water), finding that polyethylene, PVC, and biodegradable plastic particles all developed biofilms harboring bacteria capable of nitrogen cycling and hydrocarbon breakdown, suggesting microplastics create new ecological niches that could alter nutrient flows in coastal ecosystems.
Biofilms in plastisphere from freshwater wetlands: Biofilm formation, bacterial community assembly, and biogeochemical cycles
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Researchers studied how bacteria form biofilms on microplastic surfaces in freshwater wetlands and found that these plastic-associated communities differ significantly from natural soil bacteria. The microplastic biofilms had lower diversity but higher activity in carbon processing and nitrogen cycling genes. This means microplastics in wetlands can alter natural nutrient cycles, potentially affecting water quality in ecosystems that many communities rely on.
Niche vs. habitat: Insights of aging microplastics and wetland types on bacterial community assembly
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Researchers studied how bacterial communities assemble on microplastic surfaces (plastispheres) versus surrounding soil in three types of wetlands using low-density polyethylene. They found that wetland habitat type had a stronger influence on bacterial diversity patterns than whether the plastic was virgin or aged, with plastisphere communities showing lower diversity and more stochastic assembly compared to soil communities.
Distinct microbial communities in the microplastisphere of inland wetlands: Diversity, composition, co-occurrence networks, and functions.
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Researchers collected samples from different inland wetland types to characterize the microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces (the microplastisphere), finding distinct bacterial and fungal communities compared to surrounding soils. Community composition varied by wetland type and plastic surface, highlighting the ecological diversity of plastic-associated microbiomes in freshwater habitats.
Characteristics analysis of plastisphere biofilm and effect of aging products on nitrogen metabolizing flora in microcosm wetlands experiment
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Researchers placed three types of plastic in miniature constructed wetlands for 180 days and tracked how they aged and affected microbial communities. The plastics degraded at different rates, with PVC developing new chemical groups and all surfaces becoming less water-repellent as bacteria colonized them. The plastic surfaces altered nitrogen-processing bacteria in the wetland water, suggesting microplastics can disrupt nutrient cycling in natural wetland ecosystems.
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