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And where have you been? Backtracking microplastics using ecocorona composition
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Researchers investigated whether the biomolecular ecocorona - a layer of proteins, DNA, and lipids that forms on microplastic surfaces upon environmental exposure - retains a stable fingerprint of the ecosystem where it was deposited, and used this signature to backtrack microplastic origin. The study demonstrated that ecocorona composition reflects the specific environmental conditions where microplastics resided, providing a novel tool for tracing the provenance and transport history of environmental plastic particles.
Upon entering the environment, microplastics are rapidly colonised by exogenous biomolecules, such as protein, DNA, and lipids. These components form a strongly bound layer of biomolecules known as the ecocorona, which, once formed, it is suggested to be permanently fixed to the plastics surface. The composition of biomolecules comprising the ecocorona reflects the environment within which a microplastic resided when the corona was formed. Thus, environmental microplastics carry with them an ecological fingerprint of the ecosystems they have resided in. This study investigated this phenomenon using data independent acquisition proteomics and eDNA to elucidate the ecocorona composition of microplastics, and its permanence using both laboratory-based experiments and environmental samples. Pristine and bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein coated polyamide (PA) fibres (n=3), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fragments (n=3) and PET fibres (n=3) were incubated in a single species (Penaeus monodon) marine tank for 48hr to develop an ecocorona. Concurrent water samples were collected from the tank during incubation for protein (n=3) and eDNA (n=5) analysis. Samples were analysed using existing methods. P. monodon proteins and eDNA were both successfully detected on the surface of incubated plastics and from the water samples. The ability to back track the movements of microplastics using the ecocorona was further investigated using plastic biobeads, which were accidentally realised into the marine environment from the waste sump of an aquaculture facility, in Queensland, Australia. Biobeads were recovered from the beach over the next week by the public. Protein and eDNA was extracted and identified from beads exposed to the aquaculture waste sump for 24hours, and beads collected from the beach 7 days after the spill and compared to pristine beads. Overall, using 'omics techniques to quantify ecocorona composition can provide meaningful data on the environment within which microplastics have resided. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/546410/document
More Papers Like This
And where have you been? Backtracking microplastics using ecocorona composition
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers investigated whether the ecocorona — the layer of environmental biomolecules adsorbed onto microplastic surfaces — could serve as an ecological fingerprint to trace where particles have been, using data-independent acquisition proteomics and environmental DNA analysis on polyamide fibers and PET fragments. They found that ecocorona composition reflected the ecosystems microplastics had resided in and remained stable over time, suggesting a potential new method for tracking microplastic provenance.
Where Have You Been? Backtracking Microplastic to Its Source Using the Biomolecular Composition of the Ecocorona
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers used metaproteomic and eDNA metabarcoding analysis of the biological ecocorona coating microplastics to trace plastic particles back to their source environment. Pristine and pre-incubated plastic fibers and fragments deployed in different environments accumulated distinct biomolecular signatures, enabling environmental source tracking of microplastics.
WhereHave You Been? Backtracking Microplastic toIts Source Using the Biomolecular Composition of the Ecocorona
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers investigated whether the biomolecular composition of the 'ecocorona' — the protein and DNA layer adsorbed onto microplastic surfaces — could be used to backtrack microplastics to prior environments, deploying pristine and pre-conditioned polyamide and PET fibers and fragments in a tank housing black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Using metaproteomics and eDNA metabarcoding, they detected shrimp-specific proteins and pre-applied bovine serum albumin in the ecocorona, demonstrating that environmental history is encoded in the biomolecular signature of microplastic surfaces.
WhereHave You Been? Backtracking Microplastic toIts Source Using the Biomolecular Composition of the Ecocorona
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers investigated whether the biomolecular composition of the 'ecocorona' — the protein and DNA layer adsorbed onto microplastic surfaces — could be used to backtrack microplastics to prior environments, deploying pristine and pre-conditioned polyamide and PET fibers and fragments in a tank housing black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Using metaproteomics and eDNA metabarcoding, they detected shrimp-specific proteins and pre-applied bovine serum albumin in the ecocorona, demonstrating that environmental history is encoded in the biomolecular signature of microplastic surfaces.
WhereHave You Been? Backtracking Microplastic toIts Source Using the Biomolecular Composition of the Ecocorona
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers investigated whether the biomolecular composition of the 'ecocorona' — the protein and DNA layer adsorbed onto microplastic surfaces — could be used to backtrack microplastics to prior environments, deploying pristine and pre-conditioned polyamide and PET fibers and fragments in a tank housing black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Using metaproteomics and eDNA metabarcoding, they detected shrimp-specific proteins and pre-applied bovine serum albumin in the ecocorona, demonstrating that environmental history is encoded in the biomolecular signature of microplastic surfaces.
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