Microbial colonizers of microplastics in an Arctic freshwater lake.

Autor: González-Pleiter M; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain., Velázquez D; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain., Casero MC; Departamento de Biogeoquímica y Ecología Microbiana, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, E-28006 Madrid, Spain., Tytgat B; Laboratory of Protistology & Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S8, 9000 Gent, Belgium., Verleyen E; Laboratory of Protistology & Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S8, 9000 Gent, Belgium., Leganés F; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain., Rosal R; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain., Quesada A; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain., Fernández-Piñas F; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: francisca.pina@uam.es.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2021 Nov 15; Vol. 795, pp. 148640. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jun 24.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148640
Abstrakt: Microplastics (MPs) have been found everywhere as they are easily transported between environmental compartments. Through their transport, MPs are quickly colonized by microorganisms; this microbial community is known as the plastisphere. Here, we characterized the plastisphere of three MPs, one biodegradable (PHB) and two non-biodegradables (HDPE and LDPE), deployed in an Arctic freshwater lake for eleven days. The plastisphere was found to be complex, confirming that about a third of microbial colonizers were viable. Plastisphere was compared to microbial communities on the surrounding water and microbial mats on rocks at the bottom of the lake. Microbial mats followed by MPs showed the highest diversity regarding both prokaryotes and eukaryotes as compared to water samples; however, for fungi, MPs showed the highest diversity of the tested substrates. Significant differences on microbial assemblages on the three tested substrates were found; regarding microbial assemblages on MPs, bacterial genera found in polar environments such as Mycoplana, Erythromicrobium and Rhodoferax with species able to metabolize recalcitrant chemicals were abundant. Eukaryotic communities on MPs were characterized by the presence of ciliates of the genera Stentor, Vorticella and Uroleptus and the algae Cryptomonas, Chlamydomonas, Tetraselmis and Epipyxis. These ciliates normally feed on algae so that the complexity of these assemblages may serve to unravel trophic relationships between co-existing taxa. Regarding fungal communities on MPs, the most abundant genera were Betamyces, Cryptococcus, Arrhenia and Paranamyces. MPs, particularly HDPE, were enriched in the sulI and ermB antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) which may raise concerns about human health-related issues as ARGs may be transferred horizontally between bacteria. This study highlights the importance of proper waste management and clean-up protocols to protect the environmental health of pristine environments such as polar regions in a context of global dissemination of MPs which may co-transport microorganisms, some of them including ARGs.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: