Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Mangrove diversity and its relationships with environmental conditions in Kuala Bubon Village, West Aceh, Indonesia

Not relevant to microplastics — this is an ecological field study assessing mangrove species diversity and forest structure in Kuala Bubon Village, West Aceh, Indonesia, and correlating species presence with local physical and chemical environmental conditions.

2023 Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial synergies in phytoremediation: A comprehensive review

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a review of how soil microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) assist plants in removing pollutants like heavy metals and hydrocarbons through phytoremediation; while the study addresses environmental contamination broadly, it does not examine microplastic pollution or its effects.

2026 International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research
Article Tier 2

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.

2024 Water Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling Fungal Proficiency in Microplastic Degradation: A Comprehensive Research Investigation

Researchers isolated fungal genera from the Tigris River capable of degrading microplastics in both natural and artificial media, investigating their enzymatic mechanisms and evaluating their proficiency in breaking down MP polymers in freshwater and wastewater environments.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Current trends, limitations and future research in the fungi?

This broad review of modern mycology (the study of fungi) covers emerging fungal diseases, drug discovery from fungi, genomics advances, and how fungi can be used in construction and circular economies. While not directly about microplastics, some fungi show promise for biodegrading plastic waste, making mycology research relevant to addressing microplastic pollution.

2024 Fungal Diversity 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization and Human Health Risk Assessment of Fungal Species Isolated from Landfill Soil in Najaf Ashraf, Iraq

Researchers isolated fungal species from microplastic surfaces collected in environmental samples and characterized their diversity and human health risks, finding that certain opportunistic fungal pathogens were enriched on plastic surfaces compared to surrounding water and sediment.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microbial Community and Enzyme Activity of Forest Plantation, Natural Forests, and Agricultural Land in Chilean Coastal Cordillera Soils

This paper is not relevant to microplastics; it investigates how converting native forests to plantations and cropland affects soil microbial communities and enzyme activity in Chile.

2023 Forests 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastic types and shapes on the community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in different soil types

Researchers examined how different types and shapes of microplastics affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities across various soil types. The study found that microplastics alter soil structure and chemistry in ways that disrupt these beneficial fungi, which play crucial roles in nutrient exchange, soil stability, and water movement.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Powdery mildew-induced changes in phyllosphere microbial community dynamics of cucumber

This study looked at how powdery mildew disease changes the community of microorganisms living on cucumber leaf surfaces. Researchers found that the severity of the disease significantly altered the composition of bacteria and fungi in the phyllosphere. While not directly about microplastics, the research contributes to understanding how environmental stressors reshape microbial communities on plant surfaces.

2024 FEMS Microbiology Ecology 8 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Fungal plastiphily and its link to generic virulence traits makes environmental microplastics a global health factor

This meta-analysis reveals that fungi, including species that cause human infections, are attracted to microplastics in the environment. Microplastics provide tiny habitats where disease-causing fungi can accumulate and potentially evolve, suggesting that the trillions of microplastic particles in our environment may be increasing our exposure to fungal pathogens.

2023
Article Tier 2

The Culturable Mycobiota of Sediments and Associated Microplastics: From a Harbor to a Marine Protected Area, a Comparative Study

Researchers investigated fungal diversity in sediments and microplastic surfaces at three Mediterranean sites with varying anthropogenic impact -- a harbor, a marine protected area, and an intermediate site -- culturing 1,526 isolates and finding that microplastics harbor distinct fungal assemblages compared to surrounding sediments, with several species recorded for the first time in marine environments.

2022 Journal of Fungi 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the composition and distribution of microplastics surface biofilms in coral areas

Researchers investigated the composition and distribution of microbial biofilms on microplastic surfaces collected from coral reef areas. The study found that microplastics harbor distinct microbial communities including potentially pathogenic species, raising concerns that microplastic pollution may contribute to coral disease by serving as vectors for harmful microorganisms in reef ecosystems.

2020 Chemosphere 158 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of forest planting patterns on the formation of soil organic carbon during litter lignocellulose degradation from a microbial perspective

Not relevant to microplastics — this study investigates how different urban forest planting patterns (broadleaf, coniferous, mixed) affect soil organic carbon formation through litter decomposition using metagenomics and metabolomics, without any connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 7 citations
Review Tier 2

The Role of Marine Fungi in Degradation of Microplastic and Plastics – a Review

This review examines the role of marine fungi in the biodegradation of microplastics and bulk plastics, synthesising literature on over 400 known plastic-degrading microorganism species and highlighting the most significant fungal groups capable of decomposing plastic materials in marine environments.

2024
Article Tier 2

The Diversity and Community Composition of Three Plants’ Rhizosphere Fungi in Kaolin Mining Areas

Researchers studied how kaolin mining activity affects soil fungi around plant roots and found significant disruption to fungal community diversity and composition. While not directly about microplastics, mining operations generate microplastic contamination from plastic equipment and materials. The study illustrates how industrial activities can damage the soil microorganisms that are essential for plant health and, by extension, the food system.

2024 Journal of Fungi 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic effects in aquatic ecosystems with special reference to fungi–zooplankton interaction: identification of knowledge gaps and prioritization of research needs

This review identifies a largely unexplored gap in microplastic research: how plastic pollution affects aquatic fungi and their interactions with zooplankton. Because fungi play critical roles in breaking down dead organic matter and serving as food for zooplankton, disruptions caused by microplastics — which can physically resemble fungal spores in size — could have cascading effects on freshwater food webs and nutrient cycling. The authors call for targeted experiments to fill this knowledge gap and better predict ecosystem-level impacts of microplastic contamination.

2023 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics alter composition of fungal communities in aquatic ecosystems

This study examined how microplastics affect fungal communities in rivers, the Baltic Sea, and a wastewater treatment plant, finding that plastics altered fungal diversity and community composition. The results suggest microplastics can disrupt aquatic fungal ecology, with potential downstream effects on nutrient cycling and ecosystem function.

2017 Environmental Microbiology 265 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Fungal plastiphily and its link to generic virulence traits makes environmental microplastics a global health factor

This meta-analysis reveals that microplastics in soil serve as hotspots where disease-causing fungi accumulate and thrive. The findings are concerning because many of the fungi that colonize microplastics share traits with human pathogens, suggesting that plastic pollution may be creating new breeding grounds for infectious disease in the environment.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct microbial communities in the microplastisphere of inland wetlands: Diversity, composition, co-occurrence networks, and functions.

Researchers collected samples from different inland wetland types to characterize the microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces (the microplastisphere), finding distinct bacterial and fungal communities compared to surrounding soils. Community composition varied by wetland type and plastic surface, highlighting the ecological diversity of plastic-associated microbiomes in freshwater habitats.

2025 Journal of hazardous materials
Article Tier 2

Diverse groups of fungi are associated with plastics in the surface waters of the Western South Atlantic and the Antarctic Peninsula

DNA metabarcoding of fungi on marine plastic debris from the Western South Atlantic and Antarctic Peninsula revealed 64 orders across eight fungal phyla, including many taxa not previously described on plastic surfaces. The study is the first to characterize the plastic-associated fungal communities of the Southern Hemisphere, highlighting the unknown ecological roles of plastic-colonizing fungi.

2020 Molecular Ecology 122 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of an α-Amylase from the Honeybee Chalk Brood Pathogen Ascosphaera apis

This paper is not relevant to microplastics — it characterizes an alpha-amylase enzyme from the honeybee fungal pathogen Ascosphaera apis, with applications in biotechnology and understanding fungal pathogenesis.

2023 Journal of Fungi 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyamide microplastic pollution modifies the sediment fungal structures associated with different submerged plant species: an insight from aquatic mesocosm experiment

Researchers compiled DNA sequence datasets for sediment bacteria and fungi associated with four submerged aquatic plant species under varying levels of polyamide microplastic pollution in an aquatic mesocosm experiment, providing raw data to support analysis of how microplastic contamination modifies microbial community structures in aquatic sediments.

2025 Mendeley Data
Article Tier 2

Polyamide microplastic pollution modifies the sediment fungal structures associated with different submerged plant species: an insight from aquatic mesocosm experiment

Researchers compiled DNA sequence datasets for sediment bacteria and fungi associated with four submerged aquatic plant species under varying levels of polyamide microplastic pollution in an aquatic mesocosm experiment, providing raw data to support analysis of how microplastic contamination modifies microbial community structures in aquatic sediments.

2025 Mendeley Data
Article Tier 2

Tree Species Composition and Diversity in a Secondary Forest along the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in Central Luzon, Philippines: Implications for the Conservation of Endemic, Native, and Threatened Plants

Not relevant to microplastics — this study assesses tree species composition and diversity in a secondary forest along the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in the Philippines, with implications for conserving endemic and threatened plant species.

2024 Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2 citations