Microbial Plastisphere

The hard surface of waterborne plastic provides an ideal environment for the formation of biofilms for opportunistic microbial colonizers. Microplastics, including microbeads and microfibers from clothes, cosmetics, and sanitary products, are now common constituents of sewage systems, and they frequently bypass the screening mechanisms designed to remove larger waste items. Biofilm formation on most biotic and abiotic surfaces including particulate plastic fragments follows a series of steps. The ecosystem created by the plastisphere differs from other naturally occurring floating substrates, such as feathers and algae due to the long-term persistence of plastic substrates. The assemblage of ecosystems colonizing the plastic environment is referred to as “plastisphere.” The microbial composition in the biofilms formed on particulate plastics depends on a number of factors including the nature and “weathering age” of particulate plastics and the environmental conditions of the terrestrial and aquatic media.