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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics and their mechanisms in influencing methane oxidation: A physiological and ecological perspective
ClearA Study of the Effects of Microplastics on Microbial Communities in Marine Sediments
This study investigated how the presence of microplastics in marine sediments affects microbial communities and, specifically, the methane cycle, finding that microplastics significantly altered microbial community structure and function. Since marine sediment microbes play a critical role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, microplastic contamination could have broader climate-relevant effects beyond direct toxicity.
Microplastic accelerate the phosphorus-related metabolism of bacteria to promote the decomposition of methylphosphonate to methane
Researchers found that microplastics accelerate phosphorus-related metabolism in marine bacteria, promoting the decomposition of methylphosphonate to methane in oxygenated water and revealing a previously unknown mechanism linking plastic pollution to greenhouse gas production.
Microplastics promote methane emission in estuarine and coastal wetlands
This study found that microplastics in coastal and estuarine wetlands increase methane emissions by boosting the activity of methane-producing microorganisms while reducing methane-consuming ones. Both conventional and biodegradable plastics had this effect, meaning microplastic pollution is not just a direct health concern but also contributes to climate change by amplifying greenhouse gas release from natural ecosystems.
Emerging challenges of microplastic impacts to ecological health and climate change
This review examines how microplastics contribute not only to environmental pollution but also to climate change by altering microbial processes, disrupting biogeochemical cycles, and promoting greenhouse gas release. Researchers found that microplastics affect carbon cycling, phytoplankton photosynthesis, and atmospheric processes in ways that may exacerbate global warming. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps in understanding the mechanisms linking microplastic pollution to greenhouse gas emissions.
Microplastic pollution as an environmental risk exacerbating the greenhouse effect and climate change: a review
Researchers reviewed how microplastics contribute to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases as they degrade, disrupting plant photosynthesis, and altering soil microbial communities that regulate carbon and methane emissions. The review reveals a troubling feedback loop: microplastics worsen global warming, and rising temperatures cause more microplastics to be resuspended from sediments, further intensifying environmental contamination.
Microplastics Affect Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane and Sedimentary Prokaryotic Communities in Cold Seep Areas
Laboratory experiments exposing cold seep seafloor sediments to microplastics for 120 days showed that polyamide and PET microplastics reduced methane oxidation rates to roughly a third of normal and altered the bacterial communities responsible for this process. Cold seep sediments are major global sinks for methane, so microplastic disruption of this microbial activity could have implications for greenhouse gas cycling in deep ocean environments.
Effects of microplastics on microbial community and greenhouse gas emission in soil: A critical review
This review examines how microplastics in soil affect microbial communities and greenhouse gas emissions, finding that microplastics can alter the abundance and activity of soil bacteria in ways that increase carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide release. The plastics change soil structure and chemistry, creating conditions that favor certain gas-producing microbes over others. These effects could worsen climate change while also disrupting soil fertility, with indirect consequences for food production.
Response of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation processes in freshwater and marine sediments to polyvinyl chloride microplastics
Researchers investigated how polyvinyl chloride microplastics affect denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) processes in freshwater and marine sediments. They found that the presence of microplastics significantly increased n-DAMO rates compared to controls, with marine sediments showing a more pronounced response. The study provides the first evidence that PVC microplastics may actually enhance methane-consuming microbial processes in sediments.
Effects of microplastics on greenhouse gas emissions and the microbial community in fertilized soil
Two particle sizes of microplastics were added to fertilized soil and their effects on dissolved organic carbon, greenhouse gas fluxes, and microbial communities were measured, finding reduced global warming potential due to decreased methane emissions but changes in bacterial and fungal community composition. The study reveals complex interactions between microplastics and soil carbon cycling processes.
Succession of bacterial community during electroactive methanogenic biofilm development under microplastic manipulation
Researchers studied how PET microplastics affect the formation and function of methane-producing biofilms used in waste-to-energy systems. The study found that microplastic exposure reduced the proportion of living cells in the biofilm and shifted the microbial community composition, ultimately decreasing methane production efficiency.
Revealing the response of microbial communities to polyethylene micro(nano)plastics exposure in cold seep sediment
Researchers explored how polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics affect microbial communities in cold seep ocean sediments over a 120-day experiment. While the plastics did not significantly change overall microbial diversity, they did alter the community structure and affected methane-related metabolic processes. The study suggests that plastic pollution could interfere with important deep-sea biogeochemical cycles, including those involved in methane regulation.
Effects of microplastics on greenhouse gas emissions and microbial communities in sediment of freshwater systems
Researchers found that PET microplastics of different sizes significantly affected greenhouse gas emissions and microbial communities in freshwater sediments, with smaller particles (5 micrometers) notably increasing methane emissions and altering nutrient cycling over 90 days.
A review on mechanistic understanding of microplastic pollution on the performance of anaerobic digestion
This review examines how microplastic contamination affects anaerobic digestion, a process used to convert organic waste into biogas. Researchers found that microplastics can harm the microbial communities essential to this process through direct contact, leaching of toxic chemicals, and generating harmful reactive oxygen species. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution could reduce the efficiency of waste treatment systems and contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.
Colonization characteristics and dynamic transition of archaea communities on polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics in the sediments of mangrove ecosystems
Researchers found that microplastics in mangrove sediments host distinct communities of archaea (ancient microorganisms) that differ from those in surrounding sediments, with some species linked to increased methane production. The microbial communities on microplastic surfaces shifted over time and showed increased potential for methane emissions and changes in nitrogen cycling. This suggests that microplastic pollution in coastal wetlands could amplify greenhouse gas production and disrupt nutrient cycles that support these critical ecosystems.
Effects of Microplastics on Soil Carbon Mineralization: The Crucial Role of Oxygen Dynamics and Electron Transfer
Researchers investigated how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics affect carbon cycling in soil, focusing on oxygen dynamics and electron transfer processes. They found that microplastics alter dissolved oxygen distribution at the microscale, which in turn influences how organic matter breaks down and whether carbon is released as CO2 or methane. The study reveals a previously overlooked mechanism by which microplastics can disrupt fundamental soil carbon processes.
Deciphering the inhibitory mechanisms of polystyrene microplastics on thermophilic methanogens from the insights of microbial metabolite profiling and metagenomic analyses
Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics affect methane production during the thermophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste. They found that increasing microplastic concentrations reduced methane yield by up to 47.8%, driven by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species that inhibited key enzymes in the digestion process. Metagenomic analysis revealed that microplastics downregulated genes involved in methane metabolism, providing new insights into how plastic contamination can disrupt waste treatment systems.
Microplastic effects on carbon cycling in terrestrial soil ecosystems: Storage, formation, mineralization, and microbial mechanisms
Microplastics in soil contribute to organic carbon storage through degradation and leaching, but also disrupt carbon cycling by altering plant growth, litter decomposition, and microbial activity. The net effect on soil CO2 and CH4 emissions varies depending on how microplastics reshape microbial community structure and enzyme activity.
Greenhouse gas cycling by the plastisphere: The sleeper issue of plastic pollution
The microbial community living on ocean microplastics (the plastisphere) appears to contribute to cycling of greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O in the South Pacific Ocean. This finding suggests that the plastisphere may play a previously unrecognized role in ocean biogeochemistry with implications for climate change.
Microplastics and Climate Change: Unveiling Ecological Impacts and Addressing Research Gaps
This review synthesizes research from 2019 to 2024 on the mechanisms by which microplastics influence greenhouse gas emissions — including CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide — in terrestrial and aquatic environments, examining roles such as nutrient adsorption and microbial substrate provision. The authors highlight the particularly underexplored contribution of nitrous oxide, which has a global warming potential approximately 300 times that of CO2, and call for standardized methodologies and long-term field studies to assess cumulative climate impacts.
Effects of Micro(nano)plastics on Anaerobic Digestion and Their Influencing Mechanisms
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics from organic waste streams affect anaerobic digestion (AD) performance, covering impacts on methane production, microbial community structure, and enzyme activity. It identifies plastic polymer type and concentration as key variables determining whether MPs stimulate or inhibit digestion processes.
Unraveling synergistic cascade inhibition of methane production in anaerobic digestion system by polyethylene microplastics and domestic sewage: Physical adsorption, metabolic disruption, and microbial community decoupling
Researchers systematically explored how the co-presence of polyethylene microplastics and domestic sewage inhibits methane production in anaerobic digestion systems, finding that physical adsorption of microplastics, propionic acid accumulation, and microbial community decoupling identified via multi-omics analysis collectively suppressed cumulative CH4 production by 41.8% compared to controls.
Microplastics as drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling alterations in aquatic ecosystems: A meta-analysis
This network meta-analysis found that microplastics enhance dissolved and total organic carbon in aquatic sediments, promote anaerobic processes, and stimulate greenhouse gas emissions including N2O and methane. In seawater sediments, microplastics significantly boosted denitrification gene abundance, while biodegradable microplastics showed stronger effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling than conventional plastics.
Polyethylene microplastics alter the microbial functional gene abundances and increase nitrous oxide emissions from paddy soils
Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics in paddy soils significantly increased nitrous oxide emissions by altering microbial community structure and functional gene abundances related to nitrogen cycling.
Unveiling the hidden world of microorganisms and their impact on the Earth's ecosystems
This paper is not directly about microplastics; it is a broad review of microbial ecology covering microorganism roles in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and metals, and how advances in genomics have transformed our understanding of microbial community diversity and function.