Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Eastern oyster vs. harmful bacteria, global climate change, and microplastics: Who wins?

This study investigates how eastern oysters respond to the combined stressors of harmful bacteria, global climate change, and microplastic exposure, examining whether these threats compromise oyster immune and physiological function. The research is hosted on the Experiment platform for open scientific discovery.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics exposure in European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis: Evaluation of accumulation and depuration under controlled conditions and molecular assessment of a set of reference genes

Researchers evaluated microplastic accumulation and effects in European flat oysters under controlled exposure conditions, examining how filter feeding concentrates plastic particles and whether ingestion impairs oyster health. Exposure resulted in measurable microplastic accumulation in oyster tissue, with effects observed on feeding behavior and physiological condition.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in filter-feeding oyster Saccostrea cuccullata: Novel insights in a marine ecosystem

Researchers examined microplastic contamination in the filter-feeding oyster Saccostrea cuccullata collected from five coastal sites. They found microplastics present in all oyster specimens, with fibers and fragments being the most common types detected. The study highlights how filter-feeding shellfish can accumulate microplastics from surrounding waters, raising concerns about contamination in marine food chains.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effects of polyamide microplastics and the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus on the immune parameters of Mytilus coruscus

When mussels were exposed to nylon microplastics along with harmful Vibrio bacteria, they suffered gill damage, increased oxidative stress, and weakened immune defenses compared to either stressor alone. The combined exposure suppressed key immune enzymes that mussels need to fight infection. Since mussels are widely consumed as seafood, this study raises concerns that microplastic-contaminated shellfish could carry more pathogens and be less safe to eat.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics exposure in European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis: Evaluation of accumulation and depuration under controlled conditions and molecular assessment of a set of reference genes

Researchers assessed microplastic exposure, accumulation, and depuration in European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis), a species of conservation and aquaculture interest. Oysters accumulated microplastics efficiently and required extended depuration periods to substantially reduce body burdens, with implications for food safety.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Effects of aged microplastics on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in oysters and their excreta

Researchers studied how aged microplastics affect the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in oysters and their excreta. The study found that microplastics can serve as carriers for antibiotic resistance genes in filter-feeding organisms, potentially exacerbating the spread of antibiotic resistance in aquaculture environments where plastic contamination is widespread.

2025 Marine Environmental Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Prevalence of Microplastics in the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica in the Chesapeake Bay: The Impact of Different Digestion Methods on Microplastic Properties

Eastern oysters from three Chesapeake Bay sites were found to contain microplastics, with hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide digestion methods yielding the highest recovery rates, while nitric acid produced satisfactory results with better microplastic preservation.

2022 Toxics 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Do Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Microplastics Pose a Threat to the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica?

This study exposed eastern oysters to polyester microfibers at environmentally realistic concentrations for 45 days, finding that even low doses affected their physiology including feeding, growth, and energy use. The results suggest that ecologically relevant microplastic levels may pose a threat to commercially important filter-feeding shellfish.

2022
Article Tier 2

Accumulation and Depuration of Microplastics by Oysters Upon the Laboratory Conditions

Researchers monitored microplastic accumulation and elimination in oysters over 30 days, finding that the digestive tract accumulated the highest concentrations (bioaccumulation factors increasing from ~10 to ~41 over 10 days), and that most particles were eliminated within 30 days of depuration.

2025 Environmental Quality Management
Article Tier 2

Polyamide microplastics can mitigate the effects of pathogenic bacterium on the health of marine mussels

Researchers examined how polyamide microplastics interact with the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus and their combined effects on marine mussels. Surprisingly, they found that higher concentrations of microplastics actually reduced the harmful effects of the bacteria on mussel health by adsorbing the pathogens. The study reveals that microplastic-bacteria interactions in the ocean are more complex than previously thought and do not always amplify toxicity.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial community succession and the enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in an oyster farm

Researchers placed different types of microplastics in an oyster farm for 30 days and found that the plastics quickly became coated with bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains and potential human pathogens. The bacterial communities on plastic surfaces were distinct from those in the surrounding water and varied by plastic type. This means microplastics in seafood farming areas could serve as vehicles for spreading dangerous bacteria to humans through the food chain.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Vibrio and nanoplastics stress promotes nanoplastic accumulation while reducing bacterial lethality in shrimp

Researchers discovered that Vibrio bacteria act as carriers for nanoplastics in shrimp, ferrying the tiny particles through the gut wall and concentrating them in organs, but interestingly the nanoplastics also weakened the bacteria's ability to cause infection, showing that plastic-pathogen interactions in seafood are complex and two-directional.

2026 npj Science of Food
Article Tier 2

Understanding the risks of co-exposures in a changing world: A case study of dual monitoring of the biotoxin domoic acid and Vibrio spp. in Pacific oyster

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it examines the co-occurrence of the harmful algal toxin domoic acid and Vibrio bacteria in Pacific oysters in California, focusing on food safety risks from biological rather than plastic contaminants.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Exploring the effect of microparticles on bivalves: Exposure of Mytilus galloprovincialis and Ruditapes philippinarum to both microplastics and silt

Researchers exposed mussels and clams to polyethylene microplastics, natural silt particles, and a combination of both, finding that the mixture caused significantly worse mortality and oxidative stress than either substance alone. Clams were more sensitive to microplastic exposure than mussels, while mussels retained more microplastics in their tissues. The study reveals that the combined presence of natural sediment particles and microplastics in coastal waters creates synergistic harmful effects on filter-feeding shellfish that are greater than the sum of individual exposures.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Content in Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from South Carolina, USA

Researchers analyzed microplastic content in oysters, water, and sediments from four estuaries in South Carolina, USA, quantifying contamination levels across these matrices in the commercially important Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica.

2024 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aggravate the bioaccumulation and corresponding food safety risk of antibiotics in edible bivalves by constraining detoxification-related processes

Researchers found that microplastics increased the accumulation of antibiotics in three commercially important species of edible shellfish. The microplastics interfered with the animals' natural detoxification processes, making it harder for them to clear antibiotic residues from their tissues. The study raises food safety concerns, suggesting that microplastic-contaminated coastal waters could lead to higher antibiotic levels in the seafood people consume.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Dangerous hitchhikers? Evidence for potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp. on microplastic particles

Researchers tested whether marine microplastics carry potentially pathogenic Vibrio bacteria, finding Vibrio species on microplastic surfaces in seawater, raising concerns about plastics as vehicles for transporting harmful bacteria in marine environments.

2016 Marine Environmental Research 888 citations
Article Tier 2

Realistic Environmental Exposure of Microplastics in European Flat Oyster, Ostrea edulis: Evaluation of Accumulation and Depuration Under Controlled Conditions and Molecular Assessment of a Set of Reference Genes

Researchers exposed European flat oysters to microplastics under environmentally realistic conditions and measured their ability to accumulate and then purge the particles. They found that oysters accumulated an average of about 5 microplastic particles per gram, predominantly filaments, but a two-day depuration period reduced contamination by over 90%. The study also identified stable reference genes for molecular stress monitoring, supporting the development of standardized tools for tracking microplastic impacts on marine bivalves.

2025 Water 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Affect the Ecological Functioning of an Important Biogenic Habitat

Researchers tested how microplastics affect the ecological functioning of oyster and mussel habitats in outdoor mesocosms. The study found that both biodegradable and conventional microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations can alter filtration rates and nutrient cycling in these important biogenic habitats, suggesting broader ecosystem-level impacts.

2016 Environmental Science & Technology 259 citations
Article Tier 2

The plastic Trojan horse: Biofilms increase microplastic uptake in marine filter feeders impacting microbial transfer and organism health

Researchers found that microplastics colonized by microbial biofilms, which better represent environmental conditions, are ingested at higher rates by marine filter feeders than clean, virgin microbeads typically used in laboratory studies. The biofilm coating also introduced potentially harmful bacteria into the organisms that consumed them. The study suggests that previous research using pristine microplastics may have underestimated both the uptake rate and biological risks of microplastic ingestion in marine ecosystems.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 146 citations
Article Tier 2

In-situ microplastic egestion efficiency of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica

Researchers found that eastern oysters egested microplastics from their environment at a rate of about one particle per hour through feces, with smaller oysters being more efficient at clearing particles than larger, harvestable-sized individuals.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Oysters under anthropogenic pressure: A cellular perspective on the interactive effects of microplastic pollution and climate change

Researchers exposed oysters to microplastics under combined conditions of elevated temperature and ocean acidification, finding that climate change stressors significantly altered the cellular response to MP pollution. Temperature had a stronger effect than acidification, and combined stressors produced non-additive interactions in immune and oxidative stress markers.

2025 Media (https://www.suub.uni-bremen.de/)
Article Tier 2

Combined effects of microplastics and nitrogen on bivalve‐mediated biogeochemical cycling

Researchers investigated the combined effects of microplastic pollution and excess nitrogen on coastal sediment ecosystems mediated by bivalves. They found that when both stressors were present together, nitrogen processing responses changed in ways not seen with either stressor alone, and sediment health conditions worsened significantly. The study suggests that multiple environmental stressors can interact in unexpected ways that single-stressor studies would miss.

2026 Limnology and Oceanography
Article Tier 2

Potential threats of microplastics and pathogenic bacteria to the immune system of the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis

This study found that microplastics weakened the immune system of Mediterranean mussels, making them more vulnerable to bacterial infections from Vibrio, a common marine pathogen. Long-term microplastic exposure drained the mussels' energy reserves and suppressed their immune defenses, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. Since these mussels are widely consumed as seafood, microplastic-driven disease susceptibility could affect both mussel populations and the safety of shellfish for human consumption.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 14 citations