Department of Environmental Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Nad Ovčírnou 3685, 760 01 Zlín, Czech Republic.
Polymateria Limited, Imperial College I-HUB, White City Campus, 84 Wood Lane, London W12 OBZ, UK.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Dec 15;23(24):15976. doi: 10.3390/ijms232415976.
Conventional and also biodegradable polymer microplastics have started to be broadly present in the environment, if they end up in soil, they may influence both abiotic and biotic soil properties. In this study, the interactions of polyethylene wax together with three biodegradable polyesters PLA, PHB and PBAT with a soil matrix were investigated over a 1-year incubation period. Soil organic matter content was measured using UV-VIS, the microbial biomass amount was measured using qPCR, the mineralisation of polymers was measured using UGA 3000, the surface of polymers was observed with SEM, live/dead microorganisms were determined by fluorescent microscopy and microbial consortia diversity was analyzed using NGS. The amount of humic substances was generally higher in incubations with slowly degrading polyesters, but the effect was temporary. The microbial biomass grew during the incubations; the addition of PHB enhanced fungal biomass whereas PE wax enhanced bacterial biomass. Fungal microbial consortia diversity was altered in incubations with PHB and PBAT. Interestingly, these two polyesters were also covered in biofilm, probably fungal. No such trend was observed in a metagenomic analysis of bacteria, although, bacterial biofilm was probably formed on the PE520 surface. Different methods confirmed the effect of certain polymers on the soil environment.
传统的和可生物降解的聚合物微塑料已经开始广泛存在于环境中,如果它们最终进入土壤,它们可能会影响土壤的非生物和生物特性。在这项研究中,研究了聚乙烯蜡与三种可生物降解的聚酯 PLA、PHB 和 PBAT 在 1 年的培养期内与土壤基质的相互作用。使用 UV-VIS 测量土壤有机质含量,使用 qPCR 测量微生物生物量,使用 UGA 3000 测量聚合物的矿化,使用 SEM 观察聚合物的表面,使用荧光显微镜测定活/死微生物,使用 NGS 分析微生物群落多样性。在缓慢降解的聚酯培养物中,腐殖质的含量通常较高,但这种影响是暂时的。微生物生物量在培养过程中增加;添加 PHB 会增强真菌生物量,而 PE 蜡会增强细菌生物量。在 PHB 和 PBAT 的培养中,真菌微生物群落的多样性发生了变化。有趣的是,这两种聚酯也被生物膜覆盖,可能是真菌。在细菌的宏基因组分析中没有观察到这种趋势,尽管 PE520 表面可能形成了细菌生物膜。不同的方法证实了某些聚合物对土壤环境的影响。