Abstract
\nPlastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular
\nweight that impact wildlife. Their fragmentation leads to a continuum of
\ndebris sizes (meso to microplastics) entrapped in gyres and colonized by
\nmicroorganisms. In the present work, the structure of eukaryotes,
\nbacteria and Archaea was studied by a metabarcoding approach, and
\nstatistical analysis associated with network building was used to define
\na core microbiome at the plastic surface. Most of the bacteria
\nsignificantly associated with the plastic waste originated from
\nnon-marine ecosystems, and numerous species can be considered as
\nhitchhikers, whereas others act as keystone species (e.g.,
\nRhodobacterales, Rhizobiales, Streptomycetales and Cyanobacteria) in the
\nbiofilm. The chemical analysis provides evidence for a specific
\ncolonization of the polymers. Alphaproteobacteria and
\nGammaproteobacteria significantly dominated mesoplastics consisting of
\npoly(ethylene terephthalate) and polystyrene. Polyethylene was also
\ndominated by these bacterial classes and Actinobacteria. Microplastics
\nwere made of polyethylene but differed in their crystallinity, and the
\nmajorities were colonized by Betaproteobacteria. Our study indicated
\nthat the bacteria inhabiting plastics harboured distinct metabolisms
\nfrom those present in the surrounding water. For instance, the metabolic
\npathway involved in xenobiotic degradation was overrepresented on the
\nplastic surface.
\nKeywords: meso and micro-plastics; Microbial populations; Metabarcoding;
\nMetabolic pathways; North Atlantic gyre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abstract Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight that impact wildlife. Their fragmentation leads to a continuum of debris sizes (meso to microplastics) entrapped in gyres and colonized by microorganisms. In the present work, the structure of eukaryotes, bacteria and Archaea was studied by a metabarcoding approach, and statistical analysis associated with network building was used to define a core microbiome at the plastic surface. Most of the bacteria significantly associated with the plastic waste originated from non-marine ecosystems, and numerous species can be considered as hitchhikers, whereas others act as keystone species (e.g., Rhodobacterales, Rhizobiales, Streptomycetales and Cyanobacteria) in the biofilm. The chemical analysis provides evidence for a specific colonization of the polymers. Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria significantly dominated mesoplastics consisting of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polystyrene. Polyethylene was also dominated by these bacterial classes and Actinobacteria. Microplastics were made of polyethylene but differed in their crystallinity, and the majorities were colonized by Betaproteobacteria. Our study indicated that the bacteria inhabiting plastics harboured distinct metabolisms from those present in the surrounding water. For instance, the metabolic pathway involved in xenobiotic degradation was overrepresented on the plastic surface. Keywords: meso and micro-plastics; Microbial populations; Metabarcoding; Metabolic pathways; North Atlantic gyre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n