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Microbial Plastisphere
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This book chapter examines the microbial communities that colonize waterborne plastic surfaces, forming the so-called plastisphere. The author discusses how microplastics serve as surfaces for biofilm formation and how plastic-associated microbes may differ from free-living communities in ways that have ecological implications.
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.
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Aquatic Biofilms and Plastisphere
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This review examined aquatic biofilms and plastisphere communities that colonize microplastic surfaces, discussing how plastic substrates select for distinct microbial assemblages and may harbor pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes.
(micro)Plastic biofilms: Keeping afloat by carving out a new niche
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This review examined how microplastics serve as persistent substrates for microbial biofilm formation in natural environments, creating a novel ecological niche called the plastisphere that hosts distinct microbial communities. The authors discussed how these biofilms alter microplastic surface properties and may enhance the persistence and transport of plastic particles and associated microbes.
Plastisphere community assemblage of aquatic environment: plastic-microbe interaction, role in degradation and characterization technologies
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This review examines the plastisphere—microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces in aquatic environments—covering how these biofilms form, their role in plastic biodegradation, and current characterization technologies for studying plastic-microbe interactions.
Microplastics and water microbiota
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This review examines the interactions between microplastics and aquatic microbiota, summarizing recent research on the composition of the plastisphere community that colonizes plastic surfaces in marine and freshwater environments. Researchers discuss which microorganisms dominate plastic biofilms and how plastisphere communities differ from free-living microbial assemblages. The paper contributes to understanding how microplastic pollution reshapes microbial ecology in aquatic systems.
Microplastic-Associated Biofilms: A Comparison of Freshwater and Marine Environments
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This review compared microplastic-associated biofilm communities in freshwater and marine environments, examining how plastic type, ecosystem, and environmental conditions shape the microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces. Understanding these "plastisphere" communities is important because they may include pathogens and can affect the fate and transport of plastic particles.
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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.