Papers

20 results
|
Article Tier 2

Urbanization promotes specific bacteria in freshwater microbiomes including potential pathogens

Researchers used full-length 16S rRNA sequencing to compare freshwater microbial communities across urban and rural lakes in Germany, finding that urbanization consistently promoted specific bacterial genera including potential pathogens such as Escherichia/Shigella and Rickettsia, driven by warming, eutrophication, and wastewater inputs.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in urban waters and its effects on microbial communities: a critical review

This critical review examined microplastic pollution in urban freshwater systems and its effects on microbial communities including water microbiomes and biofilm communities. The authors found evidence that microplastics alter microbial diversity, promote antibiotic resistance gene transfer, and disrupt carbon and nutrient cycling.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Linking ecological niches to bacterial community structure and assembly in polluted urban aquatic ecosystems

Researchers examined how ecological niches shape bacterial community structure and assembly in polluted urban water ecosystems. The study found that the specific environmental conditions within different niches play a key role in determining how microbial communities respond to water pollution. These findings have implications for understanding microbial ecology and maintaining aquatic ecosystem health.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Urbanization promotes specific bacteria in freshwater microbiomes including potential pathogens

Urbanization significantly alters freshwater microbial communities, promoting potentially harmful bacterial groups including Escherichia/Shigella and Streptococcus in lakes near cities. Eutrophication driven by urban runoff creates conditions that favor pathogens, posing long-term public health risks as cities continue to grow.

2020 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Water Bacterial and Fungal Community Compositions Associated with Urban Lakes, Xi’an, China

Bacterial and fungal communities in urban lakes in Xi'an, China were characterized, revealing diverse microbial assemblages influenced by nutrient levels and land use in the surrounding watershed. Understanding the microbial ecology of urban lakes provides context for how microplastic-associated microbial communities might interact with existing water quality challenges.

2018 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Urban non-point source pollutants cause microbial community homogenization via increasing deterministic processes

This study found that non-point source pollutants from urban areas homogenize microbial communities in rivers by increasing the dominance of deterministic processes over random ones. Microplastics from urban runoff are among the non-point source pollutants that can alter aquatic microbial diversity.

2023
Article Tier 2

Study of Heavy Metals and Microbial Communities in Contaminated Sediments Along an Urban Estuary

Researchers studied heavy metal contamination and microbial community composition in estuarine sediments along an urban waterway, finding that urbanization-driven metal accumulation significantly altered microbial diversity and community structure.

2021 Frontiers in Marine Science 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Anthropogenic Litter in Urban Freshwater Ecosystems: Distribution and Microbial Interactions

Researchers quantified anthropogenic litter in urban rivers and streams and found that microplastics dominated by mass and particle count compared to macroplastic items. The study highlights urban freshwater systems as major conduits for plastic pollution moving toward marine environments and documents distinct microbial communities on plastic surfaces.

2014 PLoS ONE 287 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative analysis of microplastic and microbial communities in varied aquatic environments: Disparities in occurrence, interconnections, and ecological implications

Comparative surveys of microplastics and associated microbial communities across river, reservoir, and bay environments in the Dongjiang watershed found that MP abundance and microbial community composition differed significantly by water type, with MP surfaces hosting distinct microbial assemblages.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbiomes of the Aquatic Environment

This review examines the diversity and ecological roles of microbial communities in aquatic environments, covering microbiomes associated with aquatic insects, plants, fish, phytoplankton, macrophytes, and microplastics, and their interconnected functions in nutrient cycling and primary production. The authors discuss how climate change, eutrophication, and pollution are shifting microbial community composition in ways that threaten the functioning of freshwater and marine ecosystems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Phylogenetic distance–decay patterns are not explained by local community assembly processes in freshwater lake microbial communities

This paper is not about microplastics; it studies how environmental factors and spatial distance drive microbial community composition in freshwater lake water and sediment.

2023 Environmental Microbiology 12 citations
Article Tier 2

[Community Structure and Microbial Function Responses of Biofilms Colonizing on Microplastics with Vertical Distribution in Urban Water].

Biofilm communities colonizing microplastics at different depths in urban water bodies were found to differ significantly in community structure and metabolic function. Microplastics at different depths were exposed to varying light, oxygen, and nutrient conditions, which shaped the attached microbial communities. Understanding how microplastics host distinct microbial assemblages is important for assessing their role as vectors for pathogens and chemical pollutants.

2022 PubMed 4 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Biological invasions alter environmental microbiomes: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis of publicly available data found that biological invasions consistently reduce microbial diversity and shift the structure of environmental microbial communities. The findings suggest that invasive species' ecological damage extends beyond visible plant and animal communities to the microbial level, making their impact more pervasive than previously recognized.

2020 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial composition on microplastics mediated by stream impairment

This study compared the microbial communities living on microplastics collected from streams with different levels of water quality impairment, finding that poorer water quality was associated with distinct biofilm compositions on the plastic surfaces. Streams with greater impairment harbored different — and potentially more harmful — communities of microorganisms on the microplastics they carried. The findings suggest that microplastics in degraded waterways may act as vectors for spreading pollution-adapted or pathogenic microbes downstream.

2025 Environmental Microbiome 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Seasonal Patterns of Viromes in Urban Aquatic Environments of Manitoba

Researchers characterised the taxonomy, functional profiles, and seasonal patterns of viral DNA and RNA communities in urban aquatic environments in Winnipeg, Manitoba using metagenomics and quantitative PCR, sampling 11 sites along the Red and Assiniboine rivers across spring, summer, and fall to assess virome distribution in wastewater-receiving waters.

2024
Article Tier 2

Longitudinal patterns of microplastic concentration and bacterial assemblages in surface and benthic habitats of an urban river

This study measured microplastic concentrations and microbial communities in a river from source to mouth, finding that both plastic levels and unique plastisphere bacterial communities increased downstream of wastewater treatment plant outflows. The results identify wastewater discharge as a key driver of both microplastic loading and microbial community shifts in rivers.

2017 Freshwater Science 184 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecological Rolesand Shared Microbes Differentiatethe Plastisphere from Natural Particle-Associated Microbiomes in UrbanRivers

Researchers compared the microbiomes on microplastics (the 'plastisphere') versus natural particles in ten urban rivers using metagenomics, finding similar overall taxonomic and functional compositions between the two. However, the plastisphere harbored distinct specialist taxa with enhanced capacity for complex carbohydrate metabolism and unique ecological strategies.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastics increase impact of treated wastewater on freshwater microbial community

Microplastic particles added to treated wastewater effluent amplified the impact on freshwater microbial communities compared to effluent alone, disrupting both bacterial community composition and functional processes. The study suggests that microplastics in treated wastewater discharge may compound the ecological harm caused by residual effluent contaminants on receiving water microbiology.

2017 Environmental Pollution 263 citations
Article Tier 2

Watershed urbanization enhances the enrichment of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in the water environment

Researchers compared microplastic biofilm communities (the plastisphere) across watersheds with different levels of urbanization, finding that higher urbanization enriched pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes on plastic surfaces in waterways. The study suggests that urban runoff substantially elevates the health risk posed by microplastics as vectors of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance.

2022 Environmental Pollution 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Spatial Distribution and Driving Factors of Nitrogen Cycle Genes in Urban Landscape Lake

This study mapped the spatial distribution of nitrogen cycle genes in urban landscape lake sediments and water, finding that microbial nitrogen transformation activity correlated with nitrogen input patterns from urban runoff. The work improved understanding of how urban lakes regulate nitrogen eutrophication through microbial-driven processes.

2024 Sustainability 4 citations