Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Bioremediation, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jan 15;752:141879. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141879. Epub 2020 Aug 23.
Fungi not only play important roles in biogeochemical processes but also can form biofilm on plastic debris. However, knowledge of structure composition and spatiotemporal pattern of fungal plastisphere on different kinds of plastic debris in river with specific usages, known as river functional zones, is still missing. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of the fungal plastisphere across a complete urban river with different functional zones (drinking, farm irrigation, aquaculture, and tail lake). Our research was performed based on both field residual plastic debris collection and a 30-day field in situ incubation experiments. Our study revealed that plastic debris enriched distinct fungal communities (including pathogenic fungi) significantly different from the surrounding water. Tracking the source of the fungi colonized on plastic debris suggested that the fungal taxa colonized on the different kinds of plastic debris were not from the surrounding water. Human activities had considerable effects on the fungal community structure on plastic debris, and the plastisphere fungal community structure strikingly varied across different river functional zones. Plastisphere may be used as an indicator for fungi biogeography and pathogenic fungi pollution in river with different functional zones. These findings are essential for ecological risk assessment and management decisions for pollution control of plastic debris and maintaining ecological health.
真菌不仅在生物地球化学过程中发挥重要作用，还可以在塑料碎片上形成生物膜。然而，对于具有特定用途的河流功能区（如饮用水区、农田灌溉区、水产养殖区和尾矿区）中不同类型塑料碎片上真菌塑料片层的结构组成和时空格局，我们的了解还很有限。在这项研究中，我们调查了整个城市河流不同功能区（饮用水区、农田灌溉区、水产养殖区和尾矿区）中真菌塑料片层的空间分布。我们的研究基于野外残留塑料碎片的收集和 30 天的野外原位培养实验。研究结果表明，塑料碎片富集了明显不同于周围水体的独特真菌群落（包括致病真菌）。对定植在塑料碎片上的真菌来源的追踪表明，定植在不同类型塑料碎片上的真菌类群并非来自周围水体。人类活动对塑料碎片上真菌群落结构有很大影响，不同河流功能区的塑料片层真菌群落结构差异显著。塑料片层可以作为不同功能区河流中真菌生物地理学和致病真菌污染的指示物。这些发现对于评估生态风险和控制塑料碎片污染以及维护生态健康的管理决策至关重要。
