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Unveiling marine plastic degraders through DNA-stable isotope probing
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Researchers used DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) with 13C-labeled polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) to identify, for the first time, the specific marine bacteria responsible for plastic biodegradation, pinpointing key degraders including Marinobacter sp., Cellvibrionaceae, and several other genera over a 90-day incubation period.
Plastic biodegradation in natural environments is performed by the microbial biofilm living on its surface. This study identifies for the first time plastic degraders in marine environment, by using stable isotope tracers. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) biodegradation was proved by monitoring microbial cell growth (via scanning electron microscopy and flow cytometry) and activities (via continuous oxygen consumption measurements and 3H-leucine incorporation for protein synthesis) during 90 days. We successfully synthetized 13C-labeled PHB and conducted DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) experiments over different time points, which permitted the first description of key PHB degraders belonging to Marinobacter sp. and Cellvibrionaceae together with Glaciecola sp., Pseudoalteromonas sp., Celeribacter sp. and Alteromonas sp. Overall, SIP labeling combined with metabarcoding proved to be a useful tool for discovering and characterizing active plastic degraders from complex marine communities.
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Researchers used DNA-based stable isotope probing to identify marine bacteria that can break down chemical pollutants sorbed onto polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that specific bacterial taxa in coastal seawater could degrade phenanthrene, a common petrochemical, when it was attached to plastic particle surfaces. The study reveals that the microbial communities colonizing ocean plastics may play an active role in processing harmful chemicals that accumulate on these particles.
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Researchers developed a novel method using carbon-13-labeled polyethylene to precisely measure microbial plastic degradation rates. Using the bacterium Rhodococcus ruber as a model organism, they demonstrated mineralization rates of up to 1.2 percent per year for UV-treated polyethylene particles. The study establishes stable isotope tracing as a valuable tool for unambiguously proving and quantifying microbial plastic degradation.
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Researchers characterized bacterial biofilms colonizing ocean plastic surfaces (the "plastisphere") across Pacific and Mediterranean expeditions, identifying a core microbiome distinct from surrounding seawater, and demonstrated biodegradation of bioplastics like PHBV by isolating an Alteromonas strain carrying depolymerase genes capable of breaking down the polymer.
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