Bacterial communities on microplastics in a wetland ecosystem

Shuli LIU; Junkai ZHAO; Long ZOU; Zheng LAI; Qian HU; Qiwu HU; Chen TU; Minfei JIAN

doi:10.1007/s00343-024-3235-5

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Bacterial communities on microplastics in a wetland ecosystem

Biofilm on micro- and nano-plastics | Updated：2025-03-21

- Bacterial communities on microplastics in a wetland ecosystem
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 43, Issue 2, Pages: 515-527(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.College of Life Science, Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation and Bioresourcee Utilization of Jiangxi Province, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
  3.Lushan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanchang 330022, China
  4.School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
  5.State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
- Author bio：
  
  ctu@issas.ac.cn
  jianminfei@jxnu.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-024-3235-5
  CLC：
- Received：20 November 2023，
  
  Online First：20 March 2024，
  
  Published：01 March 2025
- Accepted：
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LIU Shuli,ZHAO Junkai,ZOU Long,et al.Bacterial communities on microplastics in a wetland ecosystem[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):515-527.
DOI：

LIU Shuli,ZHAO Junkai,ZOU Long,et al.Bacterial communities on microplastics in a wetland ecosystem[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):515-527. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-024-3235-5.

摘要

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs)

a new type of environmental pollutant

can serve as substrates for microbes. Wetland ecosystems support a diverse range of aquatic and terrestrial species

and their ecological functions can be disturbed by inputs of microplastic debris. Howeve

limited studies have focused on the interactions between MPs and microbes in wetland ecosystems. In this study

the bacterial communities on MPs in the wetland ecosystem of Poyang Lake

China’s largest freshwater lake

were investigated based on 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that the bacterial communities on MPs showed a lower richness and diversity but presented a higher number of unique OTUs than the water and sediment bacterial communities. Furthermore

the structure of the bacterial communities on MPs had a higher similarity to the bacterial compositions of the sediment than of the water

indicating that sediments are an important source of bacteria for MPs. It should be noted that the MPs could enhance the exchange of bacteria between water and sediment. The bacterial composition varied significantly among different substrates and at different sampling times; nevertheless

it showed consistency on the surface of MPs at different sampling sites. Proteobacteria dominated as the most abundant bacterial phylum across all samples. At the genus level

Pseudomonas

were distinctly enriched in bacterial communities on MPs. In addition

the results of pathway prediction indicated that the pathways of “human disease” from MPs bacterial communities were higher than those from water and sediment. These results illustrate that the surfaces of MPs serve as distinct habitats for specific bacteria. Environmental factors such as nitrate nitrogen

and organic matter were crucial in shaping the bacterial communities. This study provided a new insight into interactions between MPs and microbes in wetland ecosystems and into the associated potential risks to human health.

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references

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