Marine microbes on biodegradable plastic

New scientific publication

De Vogel FA, Goudriaan M, Zettler ER, Niemann H, Eich A, Weber M, Lott C, Amaral-Zettler L (2024) Biodegradable plastics in Mediterranean coastal environments feature contrasting microbial succession. Science of The Total Environment 172288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172288

In this study, we molecularly profiled entire microbial communities on laboratory confirmed biodegradable polybutylene sebacate-co-terephthalate (PBSeT) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) films, and non-biodegradable conventional low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films that were incubated in situ in three different coastal environments in the Mediterranean Sea. Samples from a pelagic, benthic, and eulittoral habitat were taken at five timepoints during an incubation period of 22 months. We assessed the presence of potential biodegrading bacterial and fungal taxa and contrasted them against previously published in situ disintegration data of these polymers. Scanning electron microscopy imaging complemented our molecular data. Putative plastic degraders occurred in all environments, but there was no obvious “core” of shared plastic-specific microbes. While communities varied between polymers, the habitat predominantly selected for the underlying communities. Observed disintegration patterns did not necessarily match community patterns of putative plastic degraders.