Paint particles are a distinct and variable substrate for marine bacteria

While paint particles are an important part of the microplastic sphere, they have, as yet, received much less research coverage, particularly regarding microplastic-microbiological interactions. This study investigated the biofilm communities of a variety of paint particles from brackish sediment using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Paint particle biofilm communities appear to be distinct from natural (water and sediment), non-synthetic particle (cellulose) and common microplastic biofilm communities. Notably, there appears to be 1 group of sulphate-reducing bacteria from the Desulfobacteraceae family, Desulfatitalea tepidiphilia, that dominate certain paint biofilms. Of the 8 investigated paint-associated communities, four paints displayed this high Desulfobacteraceae presence. However, it is currently unclear from the chemical analysis performed of the paint surface chemistry (ATR FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX) what the drivers behind this might be. As such, this study provides important insights as the first to analyse microplastic-paint biofilm communities and paves the way for future research.