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Degradation of subµ-sized bioplastics by clinically important bacteria under sediment and seawater conditions: Impact on the bacteria responses.
Summary
Researchers found that clinically important bacteria colonized submicron-sized bioplastic particles in both seawater and sediment and showed biochemical stress responses to the bioplastics. The ability of pathogens to form biofilms on bioplastic surfaces in marine environments raises concerns that bioplastics, like conventional plastics, could act as vectors for disease-causing microorganisms.
In this study, we investigated the interaction of submicron-sized bioplastics with environmentally and clinically important bacteria under seawater and sediment conditions. To examine the relationship between submicron-sized bioplastics and bacteria in seawater and sediment, we focused on the bacterial activation and their biochemical key events toward the protein, carbohydrate, lipid, and antioxidant response. In addition, culture-dependent biofilm formation on submicron-sized bioplastics and their characterization was performed. The results indicated that selected bacteria increased their viability both in seawater and sediment with the submicron-sized bioplastics in that the bioplastics decreased their mass at the level of 10-23%. However, the activation level and mechanism affected the polymer type, bacteria, and environmental media, and submicron-sized bioplastics promoted biofilm formation with enhancing basophilic characteristics of biofilms.