8
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Shotgun Metagenomics Reveals the Benthic Microbial Community Response to Plastic and Bioplastic in a Coastal Marine Environment

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Plastic is incredibly abundant in marine environments but little is known about its effects on benthic microbiota and biogeochemical cycling. This study reports the shotgun metagenomic sequencing of biofilms fouling plastic and bioplastic microcosms staged at the sediment–water interface of a coastal lagoon. Community composition analysis revealed that plastic biofilms were indistinguishable in comparison to a ceramic biofilm control. By contrast, bioplastic biofilms were distinct and dominated by sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM). Analysis of bioplastic gene pools revealed the enrichment of esterases, depolymerases, adenylyl sulfate reductases ( aprBA), and dissimilatory sulfite reductases ( dsrAB). The nearly 20-fold enrichment of a phylogenetically diverse polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase suggests this gene was distributed across a mixed microbial assemblage. The metagenomic reconstruction of genomes identified novel species of Desulfovibrio, Desulfobacteraceae, and Desulfobulbaceae among the abundant SRM, and these genomes contained genes integral to both bioplastic degradation and sulfate reduction. Findings indicate that bioplastic promoted a rapid and significant shift in benthic microbial diversity and gene pools, selecting for microbes that participate in bioplastic degradation and sulfate reduction. If plastic pollution is traded for bioplastic pollution and sedimentary inputs are large, the microbial response could unintentionally affect benthic biogeochemical activities through the stimulation of sulfate reducers.

          Related collections

          Most cited references43

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Polyhydroxyalkanoates: an overview

          Polyhydroxyalkanoates have gained major importance due to their structural diversity and close analogy to plastics. These are gaining more and more importance world over. Different sources (natural isolates, recombinant bacteria, plants) and other methods are being investigated to exert more control over the quality, quantity and economics of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) production. Their biodegradability makes them extremely desirable substitutes for synthetic plastics. The PHB biosynthetic genes phbA, phbB and phbC are clustered and organized in one phbCAB operon. The PHB pathway is highly divergent in the bacterial genera with regard to orientation and clustering of genes involved. Inspite of this the enzymes display a high degree of sequence conservation. But how similar are the mechanisms of regulation of these divergent operons is as yet unknown. Structural studies will further improve our understanding of the mechanism of action of these enzymes and aid us in improving and selecting better candidates for increased production. Metabolic engineering thereafter promises to bring a feasible solution for the production of "green plastic".
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: found
            Is Open Access

            Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms

            Background Synthetic microplastics (≤5-mm fragments) are emerging environmental contaminants that have been found to accumulate within coastal marine sediments worldwide. The ecological impacts and fate of microplastic debris are only beginning to be revealed, with previous research into these topics having primarily focused on higher organisms and/or pelagic environments. Despite recent research into plastic-associated microorganisms in seawater, the microbial colonization of microplastics in benthic habitats has not been studied. Therefore, we employed a 14-day microcosm experiment to investigate bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) microplastics within three types of coastal marine sediment from Spurn Point, Humber Estuary, U.K. Results Bacterial attachment onto LDPE within sediments was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy and catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridisation (CARD-FISH). Log-fold increases in the abundance of 16S rRNA genes from LDPE-associated bacteria occurred within 7 days with 16S rRNA gene numbers on LDPE surfaces differing significantly across sediment types, as shown by quantitative PCR. Terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis demonstrated rapid selection of LDPE-associated bacterial assemblages whose structure and composition differed significantly from those in surrounding sediments. Additionally, T-RFLP analysis revealed successional convergence of the LDPE-associated communities from the different sediments over the 14-day experiment. Sequencing of cloned 16S rRNA genes demonstrated that these communities were dominated after 14 days by the genera Arcobacter and Colwellia (totalling 84–93% of sequences). Attachment by Colwellia spp. onto LDPE within sediments was confirmed by CARD-FISH. Conclusions These results demonstrate that bacteria within coastal marine sediments can rapidly colonize LDPE microplastics, with evidence for the successional formation of plastisphere-specific bacterial assemblages. Although the taxonomic compositions of these assemblages are likely to differ between marine sediments and the water column, both Arcobacter and Colwellia spp. have previously been affiliated with the degradation of hydrocarbon contaminants within low-temperature marine environments. Since hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria have also been discovered on plastic fragments in seawater, our data suggest that recruitment of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria on microplastics is likely to represent a shared feature between both benthic and pelagic marine habitats. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-014-0232-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: found
              Is Open Access

              Diversity and Activity of Communities Inhabiting Plastic Debris in the North Pacific Gyre

              Marine plastic debris is a growing concern that has captured the general public’s attention. While the negative impacts of plastic debris on oceanic macrobiota, including mammals and birds, are well documented, little is known about its influence on smaller marine residents, including microbes that have key roles in ocean biogeochemistry. Our work provides a new perspective on microbial communities inhabiting microplastics that includes its effect on microbial biogeochemical activities and a description of the cross-domain communities inhabiting plastic particles. This study is among the first molecular ecology, plastic debris biota surveys in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. It has identified fundamental differences in the functional potential and taxonomic composition of plastic-associated microbes versus planktonic microbes found in the surrounding open-ocean habitat.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Microbiol
                Front Microbiol
                Front. Microbiol.
                Frontiers in Microbiology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1664-302X
                07 June 2019
                2019
                : 10
                : 1252
                Affiliations
                Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi , Corpus Christi, TX, United States
                Author notes

                Edited by: Ren Wei, Leipzig University, Germany

                Reviewed by: Michael Pester, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (DSMZ), Germany; Dirk Tischler, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

                *Correspondence: Jeffrey W. Turner, jeffrey.turner@ 123456tamucc.edu

                This article was submitted to Microbiotechnology, Ecotoxicology and Bioremediation, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology

                Article
                10.3389/fmicb.2019.01252
                6566015
                31231339
                c59e2a47-a967-443d-8add-e8100c7a24f4
                Copyright © 2019 Pinnell and Turner.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 14 February 2019
                : 20 May 2019
                Page count
                Figures: 6, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 96, Pages: 13, Words: 9173
                Funding
                Funded by: Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program
                Funded by: Texas Research and Development Fund
                Funded by: Texas Sea Grant 10.13039/100005794
                Funded by: National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
                Funded by: National Science Foundation’s CNS MRI
                Award ID: 1429518
                Categories
                Microbiology
                Original Research

                Microbiology & Virology
                plastic,bioplastic,biodegradation,sulfur cycling,coastal sediments,metagenomics

                Comments

                Comment on this article