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Succession of Bacteria Attached to Microplastics After Transferring from a Mariculture Area to a Seagrass Meadow
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Researchers investigated bacterial succession on polypropylene and expanded polystyrene microplastics and wood substrates after transferring from a mariculture area to a seagrass meadow, using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Alpha diversity declined significantly after transfer, potential pathogen-associated organisms decreased in abundance, xenobiotic biodegradation pathways declined, and energy metabolism pathways increased, with environmental drivers shifting from nutrient characteristics to basic physicochemical properties.
Microplastics have been recognized as a novel niche for bacteria. However, studies have characterized the plastisphere microbial community in situ without exploring the microbial changes after transferring to other ecosystems. Here we focus on bacterial succession on typical microplastics (polypropylene and expanded polystyrene) and natural substrates (wood) after transferring from mariculture area to seagrass meadows system. Using high-throughput sequencing of 16 S rRNA, we found that alpha diversity significantly reduced after transferring and microplastics especially PP had significant separations on PCoA plots at different succession stages. The abundance and metabolic pathways of potential pathogen-associated microorganisms are significantly decreased. The relative abundance of xenobiotics biodegradation pathways was significantly lower and of energy metabolism pathways was significantly higher by comparing before and after transferring. Main environmental factors affecting microbial communities changed from nutrient characteristics to basic physicochemical properties after transferring. The succession times of the microbial communities of the three materials were different.
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