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Enhanced Fish Feeding Tendency toward Poly(vinyl chloride) Microplastics Colonized by Luminescent Bacteria

Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2025 4 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 48 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Lei Mai Long Fu, Kunting Li, Jing Yu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Pei Xu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Lei Mai Kunting Li, Long Fu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Lei Mai Lei Mai Pei Xu, Long Fu, Long Fu, Pei Xu, Long Fu, Long Fu, Eddy Y. Zeng, Dali Wang, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Lei Mai Pei Xu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Eddy Y. Zeng, Pei Xu, Pei Xu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Kunting Li, Lei Mai Dali Wang, Kunting Li, Dali Wang, Jing You, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Kunting Li, Kunting Li, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Kunting Li, Pei Xu, Lei Mai Lei Mai Eddy Y. Zeng, Pei Xu, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Kunting Li, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Pei Xu, Pei Xu, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Pei Xu, Pei Xu, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Lei Mai Eddy Y. Zeng, Kaichen Xu, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Kaichen Xu, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Lei Mai Pei Xu, Lei Mai Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Dali Wang, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Dali Wang, Dali Wang, Dali Wang, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Jing You, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Eddy Y. Zeng, Eddy Y. Zeng, Lei Mai Lei Mai

Summary

Researchers found that fish showed enhanced feeding tendency toward PVC microplastics colonized by specific biofilm communities, suggesting that the microbial coating makes plastic particles more attractive as food, potentially increasing voluntary ingestion of microplastics by fish in natural environments.

Luminescent bacteria can colonize the surfaces of microplastics (MPs), where the bacteria emit light, potentially promoting fish feeding tendency to MPs. The present study evaluated biofilm formation and bioluminescence of a marine bacterium on poly(vinyl chloride) MPs and examined the predative behavior of fish Sphaeramia nematoptera toward glowing and nonglowing MPs. Biofilm formation was significantly higher on UV-aged MPs than on pristine MPs, ethanol-washed MPs, and silica sand. Microplastics and their leachates enhanced the bioluminescence of the bacteria with maximum increases of 60% and 70% for pristine and UV-aged MPs, respectively, primarily driven by Ca2+ release. Behavioral assays showed that fish preferentially fed on glowing MPs, indicating that bioluminescence enhanced the visibility and attractiveness of MPs. These findings suggest that interactions between MPs and luminescent bacteria may boost the tendency of fish to feed on MPs, raising concerns about their potential accumulation in marine food webs.

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