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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Investigating the roles of microbes in biodegrading or colonizing microplastic surfaces
ClearThe 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.
Aquatic Microbial Diversity on Plastisphere: Colonization and Potential Role in Microplastic Biodegradation
This review examines how microorganisms colonize the surfaces of floating plastic debris in aquatic environments, forming communities known as the plastisphere. Researchers found that certain bacteria and fungi on plastic surfaces show potential for biodegrading the polymers they inhabit. The study suggests that understanding these microbial communities could lead to biological approaches for breaking down microplastic pollution in waterways.
Marine Microbial Assemblages on Microplastics: Diversity, Adaptation, and Role in Degradation
This review examines microbial communities that colonize microplastics in the ocean, collectively known as the plastisphere. Researchers found that these biofilms differ significantly from those on natural surfaces and may include pathogenic bacteria and species capable of partially degrading plastics. The study highlights both the ecological risks of microplastics as vectors for harmful microbes and the potential for harnessing plastic-degrading organisms.
Plastisphere microbiome: Methodology, diversity, and functionality
This review explores the plastisphere, the community of microorganisms that colonize plastic debris in the environment. The authors cover methods for studying these microbial communities, the diversity of organisms found living on plastics, and their functional roles including potential plastic degradation and pathogen harboring. Understanding the plastisphere is important because these microbial communities can influence how plastics break down and what health risks plastic pollution may pose.
Plastisphere community assemblage of aquatic environment: plastic-microbe interaction, role in degradation and characterization technologies
This review examines the plastisphere—microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces in aquatic environments—covering how these biofilms form, their role in plastic biodegradation, and current characterization technologies for studying plastic-microbe interactions.
Microbial colonization and degradation of marine microplastics in the plastisphere: A review
This review explores the "plastisphere" — the community of microorganisms that colonize microplastics floating in the ocean. Researchers found that bacteria, fungi, algae, and other microbes form unique biofilm communities on plastic surfaces, some of which can partially degrade the plastic while others include potentially harmful pathogens. Understanding these microbial communities is important for assessing both the ecological risks and possible bioremediation potential of marine microplastic pollution.
The ecology of the plastisphere: Microbial composition, function, assembly, and network in the freshwater and seawater ecosystems
Researchers studied the communities of bacteria and fungi that colonize microplastic surfaces in freshwater and seawater, forming what scientists call the plastisphere. These microplastic-associated communities were distinctly different from those in surrounding water, and included a higher proportion of disease-causing organisms and species involved in pollutant degradation. The findings suggest that microplastics create new habitats that can harbor pathogens and alter natural microbial ecosystems in ways that may affect water quality and human health.
Microplastics as a New Ecological Niche For Multispecies Microbial Biofilms within the Plastisphere
This review examines microplastics as a novel ecological niche — the 'plastisphere' — analyzing how multispecies microbial biofilms colonize plastic surfaces, differ from surrounding environmental communities, and may facilitate biodegradation and horizontal gene transfer.
The Spatiotemporal Successions of Bacterial and Fungal Plastisphere Communities and Their Effects on Microplastic Degradation in Soil Ecosystems
Researchers tracked how bacterial and fungal communities colonize microplastic surfaces in soil over time, finding that the surrounding soil type had the strongest influence on which microbes grew on the plastics. The microbial communities on microplastics were less diverse and less stable than those in the surrounding soil, but they attracted microbes with a higher capacity to break down organic carbon. The study suggests that microplastic surfaces become hotspots for carbon metabolism in soil ecosystems.
Marine Plastic Debris: A New Surface for Microbial Colonization
This review examines the "Plastisphere" -- the community of microbes that rapidly colonizes plastic debris in the ocean -- covering biofilm development, potential biodegradation, and the hitchhiking of harmful bacteria. Researchers found that microbial communities on plastics do not dramatically differ from those on other inert surfaces, especially in mature biofilms. The study identifies key knowledge gaps and calls for more environmentally realistic research into how these plastic-associated microbes interact with marine ecosystems.
Role of Biofilms in the Degradation of Microplastics
This review examines the role of microbial biofilms in degrading microplastics, presenting insights into how microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces may contribute to the breakdown of microplastic particles in aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Plastisphere - a new habitat of microbial community: Composition, structure and ecological consequences
This review examines the plastisphere — microbial communities colonizing microplastics — covering the composition and structure of plastisphere microbiomes across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments and discussing ecological consequences including pathogen dispersal.
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.
Direct evidence for selective microbial enrichment with plastic degradation potential in the plastisphere
This study provided direct experimental evidence that microplastic surfaces selectively enrich bacteria capable of degrading plastic polymers, addressing the long-standing hypothesis that the plastisphere harbors plastic-degrading microbes. Bacteria isolated from microplastic biofilms demonstrably used plastic as a carbon source, confirming that environmental microplastics actively select for and concentrate plastic-degrading communities.
The Plastisphere: Microbial Communities and Their Role in Microplastic Biodegradation in Aquatic Environments: A Review
This review examines the plastisphere, the complex microbial communities that colonize microplastic surfaces in aquatic environments, and their potential role in biodegrading these pollutants. Researchers found that organisms such as cyanobacteria and diatoms play key roles in microplastic colonization and potential breakdown through enzymatic degradation mechanisms. The study highlights that while microbial biodegradation of microplastics shows promise, much more research is needed to understand the full ecological implications of plastisphere communities.
The plastisphere ecology: Assessing the impact of different pollution sources on microbial community composition, function and assembly in aquatic ecosystems
Researchers studied the microbial communities living on microplastic surfaces (called the plastisphere) across four different aquatic sites and found that plastics host a distinctly different mix of microbes than the surrounding water, shaped by local pollution sources. These plastic-surface microbes also carry more antibiotic resistance genes and show greater potential for breaking down plastics, making the plastisphere both a health concern and a potential bioremediation resource.
Ecology of the plastisphere
This review explores the plastisphere, the diverse microbial community that colonizes plastic debris in the ocean, which now spans multiple biomes on Earth. Researchers examine how microplastics serve as novel substrates for microbial colonization and may facilitate the dispersal of microorganisms, including potentially harmful species, across aquatic ecosystems. The study highlights key questions about whether plastics harbor a unique core microbial community distinct from natural surfaces.
Dynamics and functions of microbial communities in the plastisphere in temperate coastal environments
Researchers explored microbial communities colonizing microplastics in coastal environments of Japan, comparing bacterial and fungal communities across different plastic types, water, sediment, and sand. The study found that while microbial communities varied by sample type and location rather than plastic shape, microplastics harbored hydrocarbon-degrading organisms as well as potential pathogens, highlighting the ecological significance of plastic-associated biofilms.
Microbial Colonization and Degradation of Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystem: A Review
This review examines how microorganisms colonize and form biofilms on microplastics in aquatic environments, creating a plastisphere where bacteria and fungi can potentially degrade plastic particles through enzymatic processes.
Microplastic Microbiome Interactions: Emerging Threats and Bioremediation Potentials
This review examines the plastisphere — microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces — covering how these biofilms influence the fate and toxicity of microplastics while acting as vectors for pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, and discussing their potential for bioremediation.