We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Responses of bacterial communities to microplastics: More sensitive in less fertile soils
Summary
Researchers conducted soil microcosm experiments to compare bacterial community responses to microplastic exposure across farmland, forest, and sandy soils. The study found that bacterial communities in less fertile soils, particularly sandy soil, were more sensitive to microplastic contamination, showing greater changes in diversity and community structure than those in more nutrient-rich environments.
Recently, the potential impact of microplastics (MPs) on bacterial communities has risen enormously attention due to the increasing amount of plastic waste generated nowadays. However, there is a lack of clarity due to limited studies on the responses of bacterial communities to MPs exposures in various soil ecosystems. Here, we conducted a soil microcosm experiment to analyze the potential impact of MPs on bacterial communities in farmland soil, forest soil, and sandy soil. The changes in alpha/beta diversity and co-occurrence network of bacterial communities were more significant in farmland soil amended with PS MPs (5 g kg), forest soil amended with PP MPs (5 g kg), and sandy soil amended with PP MPs (1 g kg). Particularly, the bacterial communities in sandy soil with the least soil organic carbon content were disturbed most significantly compared to other treatments. LEfSe analysis revealed that specific bacterial taxa such as phylum Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and genus Sphingomonas, Candidatus Udaeobacter, Gemmatimonas, were sensitive to MPs exposures. Functional annotation showed that perturbation of bacterial communities was related to organic carbon decomposition, nitrogen fixation, nitrate reduction/respiration, etc. In sum, MPs may potentially affect bacterial community structure and functions relevant to carbon/nitrogen cycles at long-term realistic field exposure.