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Comparative analysis of the microbial plastisphere at three sites along the Sarno river (Italy)
Summary
Sampling along the heavily polluted Sarno River in Italy — one of Europe's most contaminated waterways — found that microplastics and their associated bacterial communities (the plastisphere) change substantially between the river, estuary, and coastal marine zone. The estuarine station showed extremely high microplastic concentrations, and the microbial community analysis revealed that plastic-attached bacteria are well-suited to colonizing new environments as they travel downstream, raising concerns about microplastics serving as rafts for potentially pathogenic or invasive microorganisms.
This study investigated microplastics (MP) and their associated microbial plastisphere in the Sarno river (Italy), its estuary and in the nearby coastal area in January 2020. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) and Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the collected MPs and their associated microbes. The three stations sampled differed substantially for MP concentrations and microbial communities, with the estuarine station showing very high MP concentrations (2048.6 MP m), highlighting the threat represented by the river for the coastal marine area and its ecosystem. The prokaryotic plastisphere showed differences between the three stations sampled, in terms of community composition, with only 75 Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASV) in common. The Comamonadaceae was the most abundant family in MP-attached and freshwater communities, and this lifestyle seems to be pivotal in the colonization of new habitats while flowing towards the sea. The results highlight the importance of the plastisphere in colonization of new habitats and support the need of correct management and risk mitigation efforts.