Interactions between Bacteria and Marine Microplastics

Dear Colleagues,

Microplastics (MPs), defined as plastic particles which range between 100 nm and 5 mm in size, have become a constitutive part of the environmental litter in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems around the world. In the marine environment, plastics represents the most abundant litter category, which can amount to more than 80% of the debris reported. Microplastics may function as sites for the colonization of microorganisms that possess the capacity to influence the ecology and resident microflora of higher organisms following their ingestion. Furthermore, the association with microplastics can provide a better understanding of the spread of non-indigenous species attached to floating objects. Moreover, these microplastics can act as vectors to spread both human and aquaculture pathogenic bacteria. Finally, the presence of plastic-associated bacteria could be a useful index in classifying marine litter (i.e., estimating time at sea, source locations, etc.), making it an important component of a marine litter monitoring strategy.

Dr. Monique Mancuso
Dr. Teresa Bottari
Guest Editors

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• marine litter
• microplastics pollution
• marine bacteria
• interactions bacteria and marine microplastics