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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Do microplastics dramatically shape the homogeneity of protozoan colonization in marine environments?
ClearMicroplastics drive community dynamics of periphytic protozoan fauna in marine environments
Researchers exposed marine protozoan communities to varying concentrations of microplastics and tracked how the communities changed over time. They found that higher microplastic concentrations reduced species diversity and shifted community composition toward more pollution-tolerant species. The study demonstrates that microplastic pollution can reshape the structure of microscopic marine communities, with potential cascading effects up the food web.
Can microplastics variability drive the colonization dynamics of periphytic protozoan fauna in marine environments?
Researchers exposed periphytic protozoan communities to five concentrations of microplastics (0-125 mg/L) in controlled marine circulation systems over 21 days and found that colonization dynamics shifted significantly at concentrations above 5 mg/L, with declining species richness and abundance at higher doses. The results suggest periphytic protozoan colonization patterns could serve as a bioindicator for assessing microplastic contamination in marine environments.
How do microplastics affect the marine microbial loop? Predation of microplastics by microzooplankton
This study examined how micro- and nanoplastics affect marine protozoans that serve as key links in the microbial loop, the process of material and energy cycling in ocean ecosystems. Results showed that both size classes of plastic particles impaired protozoan predation on bacteria, potentially disrupting carbon and nutrient transfer in marine microbial food webs.
Microbial colonization of microplastics in the Caribbean Sea
Researchers incubated six common plastic polymers in Caribbean waters for six weeks and found that bacterial biofilm communities were not significantly shaped by plastic type or exposure time, but eukaryotic communities (including distinctive diatom assemblages) were influenced by both factors. This suggests that microplastics act as selective habitats for some microbial groups but not others, with implications for understanding how plastics alter ocean microbial ecology.
Analysis of 16S rRNA amplicon data illuminates the major role of environment in determining the marine plastisphere microbial communities
Researchers analysed 16S rRNA amplicon data from marine plastisphere communities, finding that environmental factors play the dominant role in determining the microbial communities that colonise microplastic surfaces in marine ecosystems.
The structure and assembly mechanisms of plastisphere microbial community in natural marine environment
Researchers investigated how microbial communities colonize different types of microplastic surfaces in natural marine environments over an eight-week period. They found that the composition of these plastic-associated microbial communities, known as the plastisphere, was shaped more by environmental conditions and time than by the specific type of plastic. The study provides new understanding of the ecological processes governing how microorganisms assemble on ocean plastic debris.
Plastic leachates promote marine protozoan growth
Researchers studied how chemicals leaching from ocean plastics affect the growth of a marine protozoan and its associated bacteria. They found that plastic leachates dramatically increased dissolved organic carbon in seawater, boosting protozoan growth by up to ten times compared to controls. The study suggests that plastic pollution may be altering the base of marine food webs by providing an unnatural carbon source that shifts microbial community dynamics.
Microplastics alter the functioning of marine microbial ecosystems
Researchers used experimental mesocosms to investigate how microplastics affect the structure and functioning of marine microbial ecosystems. They found that microplastics indirectly altered marine productivity by shifting the composition of bacterial and phytoplankton communities. The study provides evidence that microplastic pollution can disrupt fundamental ecological processes in ocean ecosystems beyond effects on individual organisms.
Formation of specific bacterial assemblages on sterile polyethylene microplastic particles added to a marine aquaria system
Researchers characterized bacterial assemblages that formed on sterile polyethylene microplastic particles after 12 weeks of incubation in marine aquaria, comparing the plastisphere communities to those on sterile sandy sediment and in water fractions to determine whether microplastics select for distinct or potentially pathogenic bacterial communities. The study found that microplastics hosted specific bacterial assemblages distinct from surrounding environmental fractions, confirming their role as selective surfaces for microbial colonization.
Short-term microplastic effects on marine meiofauna abundance, diversity and community composition
Researchers examined short-term effects of microplastics on marine meiofauna, measuring changes in abundance, species diversity, and community composition after plastic addition, finding dose-dependent disruption to these ecologically important small invertebrates.
Does microplastic ingestion dramatically decrease the biomass of protozoa grazers? A case study on the marine ciliate Uronema marinum
Feeding experiments tested whether microplastic ingestion by the marine ciliate Uronema marinum dramatically reduced its biomass when grazing on bacteria, a key step in the microbial loop. Microplastic exposure reduced ciliate grazing efficiency and biomass, suggesting that protozoan grazers, an important link in microbial food webs, are negatively affected by microplastic contamination.
Effects of microplastics pollution on the abundance and composition of interstitial meiofauna
Researchers found that microplastic accumulation in beach sediments negatively affected the abundance and community composition of meiofauna at lower intertidal levels on urban Colombian beaches, with microplastics explaining 39% of community variation in the most heavily impacted zone.
Are bacterial communities associated with microplastics influenced by marine habitats?
A three-month field exposure experiment on a Chinese island compared bacterial communities on polyethylene and PET microplastics in three marine habitats (intertidal, supralittoral, seawater), finding that habitat significantly shaped community structure but polymer type had a weaker influence.
Relative Influence of Plastic Debris Size and Shape, Chemical Composition and Phytoplankton-Bacteria Interactions in Driving Seawater Plastisphere Abundance, Diversity and Activity
This study evaluated the relative influence of plastic debris size, shape, chemical composition, and environmental conditions on the microbial communities colonizing ocean plastics (the plastisphere). Results showed that multiple plastic properties and environmental factors jointly shape which microorganisms colonize plastic surfaces in the marine environment.
Plastic leachates impair picophytoplankton and dramatically reshape the marine microbiome
Researchers found that chemicals leaching out of plastic debris can severely disrupt marine microbial communities, damaging tiny photosynthetic organisms (picophytoplankton) and dramatically reshaping the ocean microbiome. These findings reveal that plastic pollution harms ocean life not just physically but through chemical contamination, with potential consequences for the entire marine food web.
Lacustrine plastisphere: Distinct succession and assembly processes of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities and role of site, time, and polymer types
Researchers investigated how microbial communities colonize different types of microplastic polymers in freshwater lakes. The study found that bacteria and single-celled organisms follow distinct assembly patterns on microplastic surfaces, with colonization time, location, and polymer type all influencing community composition. These findings suggest microplastics serve as carriers that can promote microbial spread in aquatic environments.
Heterotrophic Dinoflagellate Growth and Grazing Rates Reduced by Microplastic Ingestion
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastic ingestion significantly reduced the growth and grazing rates of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, suggesting that microplastic pollution could disrupt marine microbial food webs at the single-celled predator level.
Understanding the influence of biota in the transfer of different sized microplastics between environmental compartments of marine ecosystem
This study investigated how marine micro- and macro-biota influence the transport of microplastics between environmental compartments such as water, sediment, and organisms, finding that biological interactions substantially alter the distribution of particles beyond what hydrodynamics alone would predict.
Community dynamics and functional traits drive microplastic sequestration by marine nematodes
Researchers ran short- and long-term microcosm experiments to investigate how marine nematode communities interact with microplastics in benthic sediments, finding that meaningful particle sequestration only occurred at very high MP densities and was driven primarily by opportunistic non-selective feeders, while community-level impacts on nematode structure paradoxically appeared most severe at low MP concentrations.
Microplastic bacterial communities in the Bay of Brest: Influence of polymer type and size
Researchers analyzed bacterial communities growing on microplastics collected from a coastal bay in France and found that the type of polymer influenced which bacteria colonized the surface. Different plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene each hosted distinct microbial communities, though particle size had less influence. The study reveals that microplastics in the ocean serve as unique habitats for bacteria, which could have implications for how pollutants and pathogens are transported through marine environments.