Microbial Biofilm of Plastic in Tropical Marine Environment and their Potential for Bioremediation of Plastic Waste

Plastic debris has become a global problem due to its widespread distribution and accumulation in the marine environment. Indigenous bacteria in the marine environment are able to quickly contaminate plastic surface and assemble to form successional plastisphere-specific bacterial. The formation of microbial biofilms on the plastic surface can indirectly initiate the degradation of plastic polymers. The environmental conditions of the tropical region make the growth of microbial biofilms become faster. However, the study on the biodiversity of microorganisms in marine plastic debris is limited to the northern hemisphere, which includes subtropical and temperate regions. This review provides current studies of biodiversity and community structure of plastisphere in tropical environments, including bacteria and microalgae, and their potential to degrade the plastic polymer. A systematic literature search has been conducted using Scopus with different combinations of keywords. In addition, Google Scholar databases were also used to find more studies on some specific topics, including plastic degrading organisms. The climate-associated areas have been grouped according to the latitude of the study site into tropical, subtropical, and temperate latitudes. The microorganisms analyzed in this review are only bacteria, actinobacteria, and microalgae.