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The “neighbor avoidance effect” of microplastics on bacterial and fungal diversity and communities in different soil horizons
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Researchers analyzed microbial communities on microplastic surfaces and in surrounding soil from agricultural fields in Beijing, China. They found that microplastics reduced bacterial and fungal diversity on their surfaces compared to nearby soil, while selectively enriching microbes involved in plastic biodegradation and increasing the relative abundance of pathways related to disease.
Microplastics are a new type of environmental pollutant, and pose a serious threat to soil ecosystems. It is important to study microplastics effects on soil microorganisms to better understand their effects on terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, we collected soil and microplastic samples from corn, pepper, peanut and cucumber fields in Shunyi District, Beijing, China, and used Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology to analyze bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity. We focused on microplastic surface and its surrounding "rhizosphere-like" soil in the 0-10 cm (humus) and 10-20 cm (eluvial) deep horizons. Microbial richness and diversity on microplastic surface were significantly lower than those in surrounding "rhizosphere-like" soil, and microbial richness and diversity were reduced to a greater extent in the humus horizon than in the eluvial horizon. Microplastics likely enriched the microbes involved in their biodegradation. The relative abundance levels of Cyanobacteria and Basidiomycota on microplastic surfaces were significantly higher than those in surrounding "rhizosphere-like" soil, while the relative abundance levels of Acidobacteria, Chloreflexi, and Mortierellomycota were higher in "rhizosphere-like" soil. Furthermore, the relative abundance levels of pathways related to human diseases, animal pathogen, and fungal parasites were significantly higher on microplastic surfaces than in "rhizosphere-like" soil. These results show that the microbial diversity, richness, community structure and function between microplastic surfaces and surrounding "rhizosphere-like" soil are significantly different, leading to a "rhizosphere-like neighbor avoidance effect" between microplastic surfaces and the surrounding soil.
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Researchers tracked how bacterial and fungal communities colonize microplastic surfaces in soil over time, finding that the surrounding soil type had the strongest influence on which microbes grew on the plastics. The microbial communities on microplastics were less diverse and less stable than those in the surrounding soil, but they attracted microbes with a higher capacity to break down organic carbon. The study suggests that microplastic surfaces become hotspots for carbon metabolism in soil ecosystems.
Differential fungal assemblages and functions between the plastisphere of biodegradable and conventional microplastics in farmland
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Researchers compared the fungal communities growing on biodegradable and conventional plastic microplastics buried in farmland soil in China. Biodegradable plastics attracted more fungi capable of breaking down plastic, but also harbored more plant and animal pathogens than conventional plastics. This suggests that even biodegradable microplastics in farm soil could pose risks to crop health and potentially introduce harmful organisms into the agricultural environment.
Homogenization of bacterial plastisphere community in soil: a continental-scale microcosm study
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Researchers conducted a large-scale study across 99 sites in China to examine how bacteria colonize microplastics in soil compared to surrounding soil communities. The study found that bacterial communities on polyethylene microplastics were much more uniform than those in the soil itself, suggesting that the consistent properties of plastic surfaces drive a standardized microbial community. Evidence indicates that soil pH, carbon content, and temperature all influence how different the plastic-associated bacteria are from nearby soil microbes.
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Researchers sampled microplastics and surrounding soils at 27 urban wetland sites in China to study how bacteria colonize plastic surfaces, forming communities known as plastispheres. They found that plastispheres selectively recruit soil bacteria but harbor only 52-69% of the bacterial diversity found in adjacent soil. The study reveals that soil nutrient levels and moisture conditions strongly influence how these microplastic-associated microbial communities assemble.
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Researchers sampled 54 soils from intensively managed protected agricultural fields in China and found widespread microplastic contamination, which significantly affected bacterial community diversity. Plastic film mulching and compost inputs were identified as major microplastic sources in these soils.
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