Fortin Samantha G, Uhlig Kelley, Hale Robert C, Song Bongkeun
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062, United States.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2025 Apr 14;101(5). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf035.
Microplastics are an emerging contaminant worldwide, with the potential to impact organisms and facilitate the sorption and release of chemicals. Additionally, they create a novel habitat for microbial communities, forming biofilms known as the plastisphere. While the plastisphere has been studied in select aquatic environments, those in estuarine ecosystems merit additional attention due to their proximity to plastic debris sources. Additionally, the role plastisphere communities play in nutrient cycling has rarely been examined. This study used metagenomic analysis to investigate the taxonomic composition and functional genes of developing plastisphere communities living on petroleum-based (polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride) and biopolymer-based (polylactic acid) substrates. Isolated metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) showed plastisphere communities have the genes necessary to perform nitrification and denitrification and degrade petroleum and biopolymer-based plastics. The functions of these plastispheres have implications for estuarine nitrogen cycling and provide a possible explanation for the plastisphere microbes' competitiveness in biofilm environments. Overall, microplastics in the estuarine system provide a novel habitat for microbial communities and associated nitrogen cycling, facilitating the growth of microbes with plastic-degrading capabilities.
微塑料是一种在全球范围内新兴的污染物，有可能影响生物并促进化学物质的吸附和释放。此外，它们为微生物群落创造了一个新的栖息地，形成了被称为塑料圈的生物膜。虽然已经在特定的水生环境中对塑料圈进行了研究，但由于河口生态系统靠近塑料碎片来源，因此值得更多关注。此外，塑料圈群落对养分循环的作用很少被研究。本研究使用宏基因组分析来调查生活在石油基（聚乙烯和聚氯乙烯）和生物聚合物基（聚乳酸）基质上的发育中的塑料圈群落的分类组成和功能基因。分离出的宏基因组组装基因组（MAG）表明，塑料圈群落拥有进行硝化和反硝化以及降解石油和生物聚合物基塑料所需的基因。这些塑料圈的功能对河口氮循环有影响，并为塑料圈微生物在生物膜环境中的竞争力提供了一种可能的解释。总体而言，河口系统中的微塑料为微生物群落和相关的氮循环提供了一个新的栖息地，促进了具有塑料降解能力的微生物的生长。
