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Effects of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on marine microbial communities
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Researchers studied the effects of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on marine microbial communities in a large-scale mesocosm experiment. The study examined how different plastic types alter bacterial community composition and abundance using flow cytometry and sequencing.
Microplastics (MP) are ubiquitous in marine ecosystems and are suitable matrices for bacterial attachment and growth. Studies on the microbes growing on plastics are mainly done using flow cytometry and massive sequencing and do not allow quantification of specific groups. We here show the results of the participation in an international mesocosm experiment in the Marine… (SYKE) in Finland, designed to compare the effects of biodegradable and conventional microplastics on planktonic communities of the Baltic Sea. Our specific aim was to see the enhancement of bacterial activity and concentration using epifluorescence microscopy techniques, Specifically, we applied the novel technique BONCAT-FISH that allows simultaneously the identification and the detection of the activity for each bacterial cell. The experiment was run from the 26th August to the 6th September 2019. Mesocosms were filled with Baltic seawater and amended with MP at in situ concentrations (20 MP beads/ml) in triplicates: None (control), conventional, biodegradable, conventional + biodegradable MP. Our results show a low impact of the presence and quality of MP on marine bacterial communities and very weak differences between the composition and activity of bacterial communities growing with biodegradable or conventional MP additions
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Weak effects of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on marine microbial communities
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Researchers conducted a mesocosm experiment to compare the effects of biodegradable and conventional microplastics on marine microbial communities in the Baltic Sea. Using epifluorescence microscopy and other techniques, they found that both types of microplastics had relatively weak effects on planktonic bacterial activity and abundance. The study suggests that the direct impact of microplastics on marine microbial communities may be less pronounced than previously assumed.
Succession of soil bacterial communities and network patterns in response to conventional and biodegradable microplastics: A microcosmic study in Mollisol
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Using a soil microcosm experiment, researchers compared how conventional polyethylene and biodegradable microplastics affected soil bacterial communities over 90 days across four dosages. Biodegradable microplastics induced greater community dissimilarity from controls and tended to enrich environmentally beneficial taxa, while conventional polyethylene promoted potentially hazardous bacteria.
Biodegradable plastics in Mediterranean coastal environments feature contrasting microbial succession
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Researchers incubated biodegradable and conventional plastics in three Mediterranean coastal environments for 22 months and found that the surrounding habitat — not the plastic type — primarily shaped which microbes colonized the surface. Despite some putative plastic-degrading bacteria being present, there was no consistent community of microbes clearly linked to biodegradable plastic breakdown in natural marine settings.
Microplastics alter the functioning of marine microbial ecosystems
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Researchers used experimental mesocosms to investigate how microplastics affect the structure and functioning of marine microbial ecosystems. They found that microplastics indirectly altered marine productivity by shifting the composition of bacterial and phytoplankton communities. The study provides evidence that microplastic pollution can disrupt fundamental ecological processes in ocean ecosystems beyond effects on individual organisms.
The structure and assembly mechanisms of plastisphere microbial community in natural marine environment
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Researchers investigated how microbial communities colonize different types of microplastic surfaces in natural marine environments over an eight-week period. They found that the composition of these plastic-associated microbial communities, known as the plastisphere, was shaped more by environmental conditions and time than by the specific type of plastic. The study provides new understanding of the ecological processes governing how microorganisms assemble on ocean plastic debris.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.