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Changes in microplastic-associated bacterial communities along a salinity gradient in Central Anatolian lakes of Türkiye

Hydrobiologia 2025 2 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 58 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Kerem Gökdağ, Kerem Gökdağ, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Kerem Gökdağ, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gülçin Akca, Erik Jeppesen, Kerem Gökdağ, Tülay Pekmez, Kerem Gökdağ, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Kerem Gökdağ, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Tülay Pekmez, Gülçin Akca, Gülçin Akca, Gülçin Akca, Korhan Özkan, Korhan Özkan, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Kerem Gökdağ, Mustafa Korkmaz, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Mustafa Korkmaz, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Juan Pablo Pacheco, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Erik Jeppesen, Juan Pablo Pacheco, Erik Jeppesen, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Meryem Beklioğlu, Cemreay Dede, Cemreay Dede, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Kerem Gökdağ, Korhan Özkan, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Erik Jeppesen, Meryem Beklioğlu, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Erik Jeppesen, Zuhal Akyürek, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Meryem Beklioğlu, Erik Jeppesen, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Gökben Başaran Kankılıç, Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu Ülkü Nіhan Tavşanoğlu

Summary

Researchers examined bacterial communities growing on microplastic surfaces across 11 Turkish lakes spanning a wide range of salinity levels. They found that Pseudomonadaceae bacteria dominated the microplastic biofilms, and several salt-tolerant pathogenic species were detected on plastic surfaces even in highly saline lakes. The study highlights that microplastics can serve as vehicles for potentially harmful bacteria across diverse freshwater environments.

Abstract Lakes face anthropogenic stressors such as climate change, salinization, and eutrophication, and microplastics (MPs) now emerge as a new concern since they act as vectors for pathogenic bacteria, giving rise to concern about environmental health. This study explores cultivable viable bacterial (CVB) biofilm communities on MPs along a salinity gradient (0.25 to 192.69‰) in 11 lakes in Türkiye. The MPs consisted mainly of fibers and 50-µm to 5-mm-sized fragments. The dominant cultivable bacterial phyla in both MP-associated biofilms and lake water were Proteobacteria and Firmicutes . On MPs, Pseudomonadaceae was the dominant family (94.7%), followed by Enterobacteriaceae (1.2%). Various halolerant pathogens occurred as well, e.g., Proteus spp. strains on MP surfaces in Lake Bolluk (95.7‰) and Alcaligenes spp. in Lake Tuz, the two lakes with the highest salinity, while the halophilic Shewanella putrefaciens was prevalent in highly alkaline Lake Salda. Staphylococcus , Commomonas , and Enterobacter were found in all lakes regardless of salinity level, and CVB strains were more common on MPs surfaces than in lake water. Our findings suggest that MPs promote the development, dispersion, and bioavailability of bacteria, including pathogens, thus increasing ecological and health-related impacts in lakes under different salinity conditions.

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