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WhereHave You Been? Backtracking Microplastic toIts Source Using the Biomolecular Composition of the Ecocorona
Summary
Researchers investigated whether the biomolecular composition of the 'ecocorona' — the protein and DNA layer adsorbed onto microplastic surfaces — could be used to backtrack microplastics to prior environments, deploying pristine and pre-conditioned polyamide and PET fibers and fragments in a tank housing black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Using metaproteomics and eDNA metabarcoding, they detected shrimp-specific proteins and pre-applied bovine serum albumin in the ecocorona, demonstrating that environmental history is encoded in the biomolecular signature of microplastic surfaces.
Microplastics are a diffuse contaminant with various global sources, pathways, and sinks. This study aimed to backtrack microplastics across environments using metaproteomic and eDNA metabarcoding information stored within the ecocorona. Pristine polyamide (PA) fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers and fragments, and PET and PA preincubated in bovine serum albumin (BSA) were deployed into a tank housing Penaeus monodon to develop an ecocorona. Upon collection, BSA was detected within the ecocorona, along with P. monodon proteins, using mass spectrometry. BSA preincubation influenced the diversity and abundance of ecocorona proteins with pristine microplastics having more significantly enriched proteins. Most ecocorona proteins reflected the marine environment, confirming that the protein assemblage on microplastics records environmental signatures. Microplastic tracking was validated using polyethylene plastics unintentionally discharged from an aquaculture facility into Moreton Bay and collected after 7 days. Orthogonal Partial Least Square models predicted the source with 69–92% accuracy based on 16S eDNA taxa and 69–123% accuracy based on untargeted metaproteomics. Several identified taxa from both analyses were specific to the aquaculture source, including genera Leucothrix and Rugeria and species Salmo salar and P. monodon. Overall tracking of microplastics using the ecocorona proved effective over short time scales and reliably reflected the surrounding biological milieu.