Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Dataset of paper "Growth and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in microplastic biofilm from wastewater treatment plant effluents"

This is a duplicate dataset entry for the study on antibiotic-resistant bacteria in microplastic biofilms in wastewater treatment plant effluents. The data document microbial communities on plastic surfaces that could transport drug-resistant bacteria into receiving waterways.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Growth and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in microplastic biofilm from wastewater treatment plant effluents

Researchers studied antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing in biofilms on microplastic surfaces in wastewater treatment plant effluent. The study found that microplastic biofilms accumulated antibiotic-resistant bacteria including Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, and Bacillus, and that these biofilms harbored higher concentrations of resistance genes compared to surrounding water, suggesting microplastics may serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Early and differential bacterial colonization on microplastics deployed into the effluents of wastewater treatment plants

Researchers deployed seven types of microplastic materials into the effluents of two wastewater treatment plants and characterised bacterial communities colonising them after an early biofilm formation period using 16S rRNA sequencing. They found significantly higher bacterial diversity on microplastics than in the surrounding free-living water, and detected elevated antibiotic resistance genes (sulI, tetM) on microplastic surfaces, suggesting that WWTP effluents seed microplastics with pathogen- and resistance gene-carrying biofilms.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 109 citations
Article Tier 2

The factors affecting bacterial colonisation on microplastics and the impact of tertiary treatment of wastewater on the attached bacteria and microplastics

This study examined the factors that influence bacterial colonization on microplastics and tested how tertiary wastewater treatment affects the bacteria and microplastics discharged from a treatment plant. Microplastic-associated biofilms in wastewater can carry harmful and antibiotic-resistant bacteria into receiving water bodies.

2023
Article Tier 2

Identification of microplastic-associated microbial communities from various stages of wastewater treatment and recipient surface waters using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Researchers deployed six polymer types at different stages of wastewater treatment across three Hungarian plants and used MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to identify the bacteria colonizing microplastic surfaces, finding distinct microbial communities that may act as vectors for antibiotic resistance.

2025 Journal of Central European Green Innovation
Article Tier 2

Diversity of antibiotic resistance gene variants at subsequent stages of the wastewater treatment process revealed by a metagenomic analysis of PCR amplicons

Not relevant to microplastics — this study uses next-generation sequencing to catalog antibiotic resistance gene variants at different stages of a wastewater treatment plant, finding that some variants change in abundance through the process while novel variants are present throughout.

2024 Frontiers in Genetics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Biofilm formation on microplastics in wastewater: insights into factors, diversity and inactivation strategies

This study investigated how bacteria form biofilms on different types of microplastics in wastewater, finding that polyethylene supported the most biofilm growth, especially in dark, warm, oxygen-rich conditions. The biofilms contained bacteria from groups that include potential human pathogens, and different plastic types supported different microbial communities. This matters because microplastics coated in bacterial biofilms could transport harmful microorganisms through water systems and into the environment.

2023 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 35 citations
Article Tier 2

The dangerous transporters: A study of microplastic-associated bacteria passing through municipal wastewater treatment

This study characterized bacterial communities attached to microplastics sampled from multiple stages of a municipal wastewater treatment plant, finding that diverse bacteria including potential pathogens and antibiotic-resistant strains remained attached to microplastics through all treatment steps. The results suggest microplastics could transport hazardous bacteria through wastewater treatment and into receiving environments.

2022 Environmental Pollution 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic biofilm, associated pathogen and antimicrobial resistance dynamics through a wastewater treatment process incorporating a constructed wetland

This study tracked how microplastic-associated biofilms, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance genes changed through a wastewater treatment process that included a constructed wetland. While the treatment reduced some pathogens, certain antibiotic resistance genes persisted on microplastic surfaces even after treatment. This means microplastics leaving treatment plants could carry drug-resistant bacteria into rivers and lakes, potentially affecting downstream drinking water sources.

2023 Water Research 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Wastewater treatment alters microbial colonization of microplastics

Analysis of microplastics and their biofilms across raw sewage, effluent, and sludge at two wastewater treatment plants found that >99% of influent MPs were retained in sludge, and that wastewater treatment substantially altered biofilm microbial composition, enriching bioflocculation-associated taxa.

2021 PLoS ONE 133 citations
Article Tier 2

Accession numbers obtained from GenBank.

This supplementary data table presents GenBank accession numbers from a study investigating microplastic contamination in marine environments, examining the microbial communities associated with plastic surfaces near South African coastal wastewater treatment plant outfalls.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Contribution of microplastic particles to the spread of resistances and pathogenic bacteria in treated wastewaters

Researchers studied microplastic particles collected from treated wastewater effluents and found that MPs harbored significantly higher loads of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic bacteria compared to surrounding water, suggesting MPs facilitate their environmental spread.

2021 Water Research 140 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Succession on Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Exploring the Complexities of Microplastic-Microbiome Interactions

This review examines how different microorganisms colonize microplastic surfaces in wastewater treatment plants, forming communities called biofilms that change as the treatment process progresses. These biofilms can include harmful bacteria and antibiotic-resistant organisms that ride on microplastics through the treatment process and into the environment. The findings are concerning because microplastics leaving treatment plants could carry disease-causing microbes into waterways used for drinking and recreation.

2024 Microbial Ecology 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of Emerging Pathogens and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Biofilm of Microplastics Incubated Under a Wastewater Discharge Simulation

Researchers incubated common plastic types in flowing water that simulated wastewater discharge conditions for 10 weeks and studied the bacteria that colonized the plastic surfaces. They found that microplastics exposed to treated wastewater developed distinct bacterial communities compared to those in clean river water, including emerging pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes. The study suggests that microplastics in waterways receiving wastewater may serve as mobile platforms for spreading harmful bacteria and antibiotic resistance in the environment.

2025 Environmental Microbiology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Responses of bacterial communities and resistance genes on microplastics to antibiotics and heavy metals in sewage environment

Polyvinyl chloride microplastics in sewage enriched pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes on their surfaces, and the presence of heavy metals and antibiotics altered but did not eliminate this enrichment over time. The findings suggest microplastics in wastewater environments could facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance through the microbial community.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 179 citations
Article Tier 2

Wastewater discharges and polymer type modulate the riverine plastisphere and set the role of microplastics as vectors of pathogens and antibiotic resistance

Researchers investigated how wastewater treatment plant discharges and polymer type shape microbial communities on microplastics in a river environment. They found that microplastics harbored significantly higher microbial diversity than surrounding water, and that wastewater discharges led to a 2.3-fold increase in antibiotic resistance gene abundance on the plastic surfaces. Different polymer types, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET, each attracted distinct microbial communities with varying levels of pathogens and resistance genes.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge on the antibiotic resistome in downstream aquatic environments: a mini review

This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants release antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes into rivers and lakes through their treated water. Current treatment processes cannot fully remove these resistance factors, allowing them to spread in downstream water bodies and potentially reach humans through drinking water and the food chain. The review is relevant to microplastics research because microplastics in wastewater can serve as surfaces where resistant bacteria grow and spread.

2023 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 31 citations
Article Tier 2

New insight into the effect of microplastics on antibiotic resistance and bacterial community of biofilm

Researchers found that different types of microplastics promote distinct biofilm communities and enhance antibiotic resistance gene proliferation compared to natural substrates, suggesting microplastics serve as unique platforms for the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

2023 Chemosphere 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastisphere showing unique microbiome and resistome different from activated sludge

Researchers used metagenomics to compare the microbiome and resistome of PVC plastisphere biofilms with activated sludge, finding that microplastic surfaces enriched distinct pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes that differ from the surrounding sludge community.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Determinants of microbial colonization on microplastics through wastewater treatment processes: The role of polymer type and sequential treatment

This study examined how polymer type (HDPE vs. PET) and sequential versus individual deployment at each wastewater treatment stage affect microbial colonization on microplastics. The stage of wastewater treatment was found to profoundly influence the bacterial communities colonizing microplastic surfaces.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic-driven shifts in bacterial dynamics of the polyethylene terephthalate and low density polyethylene plastisphere in wastewater treatment systems

Researchers studied how antibiotic exposure shifts the bacterial communities colonizing PET and LDPE microplastic surfaces in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants, finding that antibiotics altered plastisphere microbial composition and increased antibiotic resistance gene prevalence.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Microplastic biofilms in water treatment systems: Fate and risks of pathogenic bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes

This review examines how microplastics in drinking water and wastewater treatment plants develop biofilms that harbor dangerous bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. The biofilm-coated microplastics can protect pathogens from disinfection processes, allowing them to survive treatment and potentially reach tap water. This raises concerns about microplastics serving as vehicles for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our water supply.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Taxonomic variation, plastic degradation, and antibiotic resistance traits of plastisphere communities in the maturation pond of a wastewater treatment plant

Researchers placed different types of weathered plastics in a wastewater treatment pond for up to a year and studied the microbial communities that grew on them. The study suggests that the bacteria colonizing plastics in wastewater were shaped more by time and water depth than by the type of plastic, and that these communities may carry genes related to plastic degradation and antibiotic resistance.

2024 Applied and Environmental Microbiology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistant bacteria colonising microplastics in the aquatic environment: An emerging challenge

Researchers reviewed how microplastics in aquatic environments act as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can grow and swap resistance genes with each other, raising concern that contaminated seafood and water could transfer these hard-to-treat bacteria to humans.

2024 Discover Sustainability 15 citations