Papers

61,005 results
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Systematic Review Tier 1

Sources, interactions, influencing factors and ecological risks of microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes in soil: A review

Microplastics in soil serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes, with the plastisphere — the microbial community colonizing plastic surfaces — facilitating horizontal gene transfer of resistance markers. Key factors driving this interaction include microplastic properties, soil chemistry, and agricultural practices, though research in soil environments is still at an early stage compared to aquatic systems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 13 citations
Article Tier 2

soil plastisphere: The nexus of microplastics, bacteria, and biofilms

This commentary examines how microplastics in soil create new microbial ecosystems called the plastisphere, where bacteria colonize plastic surfaces and form biofilms. Researchers discuss how microplastics can carry harmful pathogens and contaminants through soil and into water systems. The study emphasizes the urgent need to better understand how bacteria adapt to these microplastic-rich environments, given the implications for ecosystem and human health.

2024 InterPore journal. 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil plastispheres as hotspots of antibiotic resistance genes and potential pathogens

Researchers investigated microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes on microplastic surfaces (the plastisphere) in soil environments. They found that plastispheres harbor enriched levels of potential pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes compared to surrounding soil, and that adding manure or increasing temperature and moisture further amplified these concerning microbial communities.

2021 The ISME Journal 387 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil plastisphere: Exploration methods, influencing factors, and ecological insights

This review explored the soil plastisphere, examining how microplastics serve as substrates for microbial colonization in terrestrial ecosystems, and identified key factors influencing plastisphere formation, composition, and ecological functions in soil environments.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 125 citations
Article Tier 2

Viruses in the era of microplastics and plastispheres: Analytical methods, advances and future directions

This review examines how viruses interact with microplastics in the environment, including how viral particles attach to plastic surfaces and what this means for human and environmental health. Microplastics can carry viruses across water environments, and the biofilms that form on plastic surfaces create conditions for viral survival and gene transfer. These findings raise concerns that microplastics could serve as vehicles for spreading disease-causing viruses through water systems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and transport of biological microcontaminants bound to microplastics in the soil environment

This review explores how microplastics in soil can carry biological contaminants like antibiotic resistance genes, small RNA molecules, and pathogenic viruses. Unlike chemical pollutants, these biological hitchhikers on microplastic surfaces remain understudied, especially in terrestrial environments. Understanding this transport mechanism matters because contaminated microplastics in agricultural soil could introduce harmful biological agents into the food chain.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil microplastics pollution can reduce viral abundance and have less consistent impacts on bacteria

Researchers exposed soils containing natural microbial communities to polyethylene and PVC microplastics and found that both types consistently reduced viral abundance, while effects on bacteria were more variable, suggesting microplastic pollution may alter the balance of microbial communities that regulate soil processes.

2025 Applied Soil Ecology
Article Tier 2

Effects of agricultural inputs on soil virome-associated antibiotic resistance and virulence: A focus on manure, microplastic and pesticide

Researchers studied how agricultural inputs including manure, microplastics, and pesticides affect virus communities in soil and their potential to carry antibiotic resistance genes. They found that manure application significantly increased both viral diversity and the abundance of resistance and virulence genes carried by viruses. The study reveals that soil viruses may play a previously underappreciated role in spreading antibiotic resistance through agricultural ecosystems.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microbiome predators in changing soils

Not relevant to microplastics — this review examines the role of predatory microorganisms (such as protists and bacteriophages) in shaping soil microbial communities and soil health under global change conditions.

2023 Environmental Microbiology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2022 Microbiology 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Isolates in Microplastic-Polluted Soil

Researchers isolated and characterized microbial communities from microplastic-polluted soil, identifying bacteria capable of colonizing plastic surfaces and assessing their potential roles in plastic degradation and soil nutrient cycling.

2024 African Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research
Article Tier 2

Deciphering the Mechanisms Shaping the Plastisphere Microbiota in Soil

Researchers characterized bacterial communities colonizing biodegradable and conventional microplastics in soil, finding that polymer type and biodegradability shaped distinct plastisphere communities, with deterministic processes playing a stronger role in community assembly than in surrounding soil.

2022 mSystems 100 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and soil microbiomes

This review examines the two-way relationship between microplastics and soil microbiomes: how microplastics alter microbial community structure and function, and how soil microbes in turn affect the behavior of microplastics. Researchers found that microplastics can shift microbial communities and disrupt key ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling. The study also discusses how certain soil microbes may enhance the degradation of microplastics, pointing to potential natural remediation pathways.

2025 BMC Biology 13 citations
Review Tier 2

[Interaction between microplastics and microorganisms in soil environment: a review].

This review examines how microplastics alter soil microbial community structure and diversity, and how microorganisms in turn colonize plastic surfaces and degrade them through extracellular enzymes — with degradation efficiency dependent on polymer properties and environmental conditions.

2023 PubMed 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovering untapped microbial communities through metagenomics for microplastic remediation: recent advances, challenges, and way forward

This review explores how metagenomic approaches are uncovering microbial communities capable of degrading microplastics in various environments. Researchers found that diverse bacteria and fungi in soil, water, and waste systems produce enzymes that can break down plastic polymers, though degradation rates remain slow. The study highlights metagenomics as a powerful tool for discovering new biological solutions to microplastic pollution.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Viral diversity and potential environmental risk in microplastic at watershed scale: Evidence from metagenomic analysis of plastisphere

Metagenomic analysis of plastisphere communities on microplastics collected from five freshwater sites revealed diverse viral communities including phages and potential animal pathogens, with plastic-associated viromes differing from those in surrounding water. The study identifies microplastics as previously overlooked carriers of viral diversity and potential environmental health risks in aquatic ecosystems.

2022 Environment International 74 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction effects and mechanisms of microorganisms and microplastics in soil environment

This review examines how microplastics and soil microorganisms interact: microplastics disrupt soil structure, reduce water retention, and impede plant root growth, while certain bacteria and fungi can colonize and partially degrade plastic particles through a multi-step process involving colonization, fragmentation, assimilation, and mineralization. Different polymer types (PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET) attract different microbial communities, and factors like temperature, moisture, and plastic additives affect degradation rates. Understanding these interactions is key to assessing long-term soil health impacts and developing microbial strategies to reduce plastic accumulation in agricultural soils.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

The formation of specific bacterial communities contributes to the enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes in the soil plastisphere

Researchers used metagenomic approaches to study how microplastic surfaces in soil become enriched with antibiotic resistance genes through the formation of specific bacterial communities. The study tested three types of microplastics at two particle sizes and found that antibiotic resistance gene abundances significantly increased in the plastisphere compared to surrounding soil. Evidence indicates that microplastics in soil may serve as hotspots for the spread of antibiotic resistance.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 59 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil viral–host interactions regulate microplastic-dependent carbon storage

Researchers discovered that microplastics in soil affect carbon storage by changing how viruses and bacteria interact underground. Non-biodegradable microplastics reduced soil carbon by over 17%, while biodegradable ones slightly increased it, through different effects on microbial communities. This matters for human health because soil carbon cycling influences agricultural productivity and the broader climate system.

2024 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Soil-Dwelling Bacterial Community Changes Induced by Microplastic Ex posure Using Amplicon Sequencing

Researchers analyzed soil bacterial community composition after microplastic contamination, finding that different polymer types caused distinct shifts in microbial diversity and functional groups, with implications for soil nutrient cycling and agricultural productivity.

2025 Korean Science Education Society for the Gifted
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics on soil microbial community and microbial degradation of microplastics in soil: A review

This review examines how microplastics affect soil microbial communities and the potential for microbes to degrade plastic particles in soil environments. The study highlights that soil acts as a major sink for microplastics from sources like sewage sludge, agricultural mulch, and wastewater, and identifies key knowledge gaps including the need for better monitoring of microplastic sources and exploration of microbial biodegradation potential.

2023 Environmental Engineering Research 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Diversity and potential functional characteristics of phage communities colonizing microplastic biofilms

Researchers used metagenomics to characterize phage communities colonizing microplastic biofilms, discovering 240 distinct virus types across polypropylene, polyethylene, and PET plastics that differed from those on stone surfaces, suggesting microplastics host unique viral communities with potential ecological implications.

2022 Environmental Research 37 citations