Du Yuhui, Liu Xinbei, Dong Xusheng, Yin Zhiqiu
MOE International Joint Research Laboratory on Synthetic Biology and Medicines, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, PR China.
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2022 Feb 15;20:975-988. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.02.008. eCollection 2022.
The pollution of plastic waste has become an increasingly serious environmental crisis. Recently, plastic has been detected in various kinds of environments, even in human tissues, which is an increasing threat to the ecosystems and humans. In the ocean, the plastic waste is eventually fragmentized into microplastics (MPs) under the disruption of physical and chemical processes. MPs are colonized by microbial communities such as fungi, diatoms, and bacteria, which form biofilms on the surface of the plastic called "plastisphere". In this review, we summarize the studies related to microorganisms in the plastisphere in recent years and describe the microbial species in the plastisphere, mainly including bacteria, fungi, and autotrophs. Secondly, we explore the interactions between MPs and the plastisphere. The depth of MPs in the ocean and the nutrients in the surrounding seawater can have a great impact on the community structure of microorganisms in the plastisphere. Finally, we discuss the types of MP-degrading bacteria in the ocean, and use the "seed bank" theory to speculate on the potential sources of MP-degrading microorganisms. Challenges and future research prospects are also discussed.
塑料垃圾污染已成为日益严重的环境危机。最近,在各种环境中甚至在人体组织中都检测到了塑料,这对生态系统和人类构成了越来越大的威胁。在海洋中,塑料垃圾最终在物理和化学过程的破坏下破碎成微塑料(MPs)。微塑料被真菌、硅藻和细菌等微生物群落定殖,这些微生物在塑料表面形成称为“塑料球”的生物膜。在这篇综述中,我们总结了近年来与塑料球中微生物相关的研究,并描述了塑料球中的微生物种类,主要包括细菌、真菌和自养生物。其次,我们探讨了微塑料与塑料球之间的相互作用。海洋中微塑料的深度以及周围海水中的营养物质会对塑料球中微生物的群落结构产生重大影响。最后,我们讨论了海洋中微塑料降解细菌的类型,并利用“种子库”理论推测微塑料降解微生物的潜在来源。还讨论了挑战和未来的研究前景。