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Non-destructive microplastic isolation from water and sediment samples v1
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This protocol describes a non-destructive method for isolating microplastics from water and sediment samples that preserves the associated microbial biofilm, enabling both culture-based and sequencing-based analysis of plastisphere communities.
Microplastics in aquatic ecosystems serve as unique habitats for diverse microbial communities, collectively referred to as the plastisphere. Investigating these microbes using both culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques (e.g., 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metagenomics) requires a method that preserves the integrity of the plastic and associated microbiota. This protocol outlines a non-destructive isolation technique for microplastics from water and sediment samples using Nile Red dye, thus allowing for a comprehensive study of the microplastic microbiome and its functional potential without compromising the plastic matrix or the microbial communities it harbors.
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Microplastics in marine environments: protocol for isolating natural biofilms from seawater-incubated particles v1
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Researchers developed and described a standardized laboratory protocol for incubating microplastic particles in seawater to cultivate natural marine biofilms, covering device preparation, sample collection, and downstream processing steps designed to minimize contamination while enabling reproducible study of microbial communities, potential pathogens, and antimicrobial resistance genes on plastic surfaces.
A new and straightforward protocol for microplastic's DNA extraction from freshwater environments
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Researchers developed a simplified DNA extraction protocol for microplastics collected from freshwater environments, enabling analysis of the microbial communities living on plastic surfaces. The protocol makes it easier to study plastisphere biofilms, which may harbor pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria carried by microplastics in river systems.
Developing an optimized method for biofilm extraction from microplastic surfaces for high-efficiency analysis of adherent bacterial communities
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Researchers developed an optimized biofilm extraction protocol for microplastic surfaces that enables high-efficiency, quantitative analysis of adherent bacterial communities, bridging a methodological gap in understanding microplastics as biological reservoirs and providing regulators with reliable data for evidence-based water-quality guidelines.
Culturing the Plastisphere: comparing methods to isolate culturable bacteria colonising microplastics
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Researchers compared culturing methods for isolating bacteria from the plastisphere (plastic-colonizing microbial communities), finding that method choice strongly influences which bacterial taxa are recovered and that standardization is needed to better assess pathogen and resistance gene enrichment on microplastics.
New techniques for the detection of microplastics in sediments and field collected organisms
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Researchers developed new techniques for detecting microplastics in sediment samples and for collecting particles in the field, improving the reliability and sensitivity of methods used to monitor environmental microplastic contamination.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.