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Terrestrial and Aquatic Plastisphere: Formation, Characteristics, and Influencing Factors
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This review explores how microorganisms colonize the surfaces of plastic particles in both soil and water environments, forming communities known as the plastisphere. Researchers found that the types of microbes living on plastics are shaped by factors including plastic type, particle size, aging, and surrounding environmental conditions. The study highlights concerns that these plastic-attached microbial communities could include harmful pathogens and play a role in spreading pollutants.
The increasing number of plastic particles in the environment gives rise to a unique ecological niche called the plastisphere, which is characterized by a dynamic assemblage of microorganisms comprising autotrophs, heterotrophs, predators, and pathogens. This paper reviews the formation, characteristics, and factors influencing the terrestrial and aquatic plastisphere. The terrestrial and aquatic plastisphere forms when hitchhiking microorganisms, often bacteria, in the environment adhere to the surfaces of plastic particles and alter the surface properties of the particles for subsequent colonization of increasingly tightly clinging microorganisms. The terrestrial plastisphere is not as mobile as the aquatic plastisphere and is defined by the characteristics of the soil anchoring it. The microorganisms on the plastisphere are often defined by the dominant microorganisms in the surroundings, particularly those of the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidota, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Ciliophora, Ochrophyta, and Chlorophyta. However, the compositions and dominant microbial species on different plastic surfaces vary widely as they change with time, plastic properties, and biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Temporal changes in the plastisphere are due to succession. Plastic properties, particularly the type, surface properties, size, color, degree of aging, and chemical leaching, also affect the composition of the plastisphere. Biotic environmental factors comprising the dominant ambient microorganisms and interspecies interactions, together with the abiotic ones, including pH, temperature, nutrient availability, soil properties, salinity, and light, significantly shape the plastisphere. This review provides insight into the biodiversity of the plastisphere, and its roles in spreading pathogens and degrading plastics.
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Microbial Plastisphere
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This book chapter examines the microbial communities that colonize waterborne plastic surfaces, forming the so-called plastisphere. The author discusses how microplastics serve as surfaces for biofilm formation and how plastic-associated microbes may differ from free-living communities in ways that have ecological implications.
Ecology of the plastisphere
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This review explores the plastisphere, the diverse microbial community that colonizes plastic debris in the ocean, which now spans multiple biomes on Earth. Researchers examine how microplastics serve as novel substrates for microbial colonization and may facilitate the dispersal of microorganisms, including potentially harmful species, across aquatic ecosystems. The study highlights key questions about whether plastics harbor a unique core microbial community distinct from natural surfaces.
Aquatic Microbial Diversity on Plastisphere: Colonization and Potential Role in Microplastic Biodegradation
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This review examines how microorganisms colonize the surfaces of floating plastic debris in aquatic environments, forming communities known as the plastisphere. Researchers found that certain bacteria and fungi on plastic surfaces show potential for biodegrading the polymers they inhabit. The study suggests that understanding these microbial communities could lead to biological approaches for breaking down microplastic pollution in waterways.
Microbial colonization and degradation of marine microplastics in the plastisphere: A review
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This review explores the "plastisphere" — the community of microorganisms that colonize microplastics floating in the ocean. Researchers found that bacteria, fungi, algae, and other microbes form unique biofilm communities on plastic surfaces, some of which can partially degrade the plastic while others include potentially harmful pathogens. Understanding these microbial communities is important for assessing both the ecological risks and possible bioremediation potential of marine microplastic pollution.
A review on marine plastisphere: biodiversity, formation, and role in degradation
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This review explored the "plastisphere," the community of bacteria, fungi, and algae that colonize microplastic surfaces in the ocean. Researchers found that these microbial communities differ from those in surrounding seawater and include species capable of degrading plastic, though the process is extremely slow. Understanding the plastisphere is important because it influences how microplastics behave in the ocean, including whether they sink or float and how they interact with marine life.
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