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Microorganisms
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Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
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Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 40512

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Joseph Christie-Oleza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Interests: marine microbial interactions; microbial interactions with marine plastic debris

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plastic has become a ubiquitous pollutant in the environment and is used as a marker for the Anthropocene. Millions of tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste enter the environment annually, and these alien crafts are immediately colonised by microbes. A large number of studies have focussed on the analysis of the microbial community that builds up on plastics, i.e. the Plastisphere, obtained from a number of different environments. Like all biofilms, the Plastisphere will be mainly conditioned by the surrounding environment in which the plastic particle is found, more than by the properties of the material itself. Nevertheless, some reports have suggested that under particular circumstances, the Plastisphere may be enriched by pathogens and biodegrading organisms.

This Special Issue in Microorganisms aims to take the current research on microbial interactions with plastics a step further, and characterise the so-called biodegraders, pathogens and other polymer-specific microbes, as well as the microbiome as a whole. Studies looking at novel aspects of the Plastisphere and enriched consortia will also be considered. In addition, we would welcome studies on microbial isolates that provide further insight into the mechanisms and function of plastic biodegradation as well as proof of pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant genes on these objects.

Dr. Joseph Christie-Oleza
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Plastisphere
  • microplastics
  • plastic pollution
  • biofilms
  • microbe–plastic interactions

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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19 pages, 5656 KiB  
Article
The Terrestrial Plastisphere: Diversity and Polymer-Colonizing Potential of Plastic-Associated Microbial Communities in Soil
by Joana MacLean, Sathish Mayanna, Liane G. Benning, Fabian Horn, Alexander Bartholomäus, Yosri Wiesner, Dirk Wagner and Susanne Liebner
Microorganisms 2021, 9(9), 1876; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9091876 - 3 Sep 2021
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 6320
Abstract
The concept of a ‘plastisphere microbial community’ arose from research on aquatic plastic debris, while the effect of plastics on microbial communities in soils remains poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the inhabiting microbial communities of two plastic debris ecosystems with regard to their [...] Read more.
The concept of a ‘plastisphere microbial community’ arose from research on aquatic plastic debris, while the effect of plastics on microbial communities in soils remains poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the inhabiting microbial communities of two plastic debris ecosystems with regard to their diversity and composition relative to plastic-free soils from the same area using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Furthermore, we studied the plastic-colonizing potential of bacteria originating from both study sites as a measure of surface adhesion to UV-weathered polyethylene (PE) using high-magnification field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The high plastic content of the soils was associated with a reduced alpha diversity and a significantly different structure of the microbial communities. The presence of plastic debris in soils did not specifically enrich bacteria known to degrade plastic, as suggested by earlier studies, but rather shifted the microbial community towards highly abundant autotrophic bacteria potentially tolerant to hydrophobic environments and known to be important for biocrust formation. The bacterial inoculates from both sites formed dense biofilms on the surface and in micrometer-scale surface cracks of the UV-weathered PE chips after 100 days of in vitro incubation with visible threadlike EPS structures and cross-connections enabling surface adhesion. High-resolution FESEM imaging further indicates that the microbial colonization catalyzed some of the surface degradation of PE. In essence, this study suggests the concept of a ‘terrestrial plastisphere’ as a diverse consortium of microorganisms including autotrophs and other pioneering species paving the way for those members of the consortium that may eventually break down the plastic compounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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27 pages, 3852 KiB  
Article
Comparative Genomics of Marine Bacteria from a Historically Defined Plastic Biodegradation Consortium with the Capacity to Biodegrade Polyhydroxyalkanoates
by Fons A. de Vogel, Cathleen Schlundt, Robert E. Stote, Jo Ann Ratto and Linda A. Amaral-Zettler
Microorganisms 2021, 9(1), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9010186 - 16 Jan 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6645 | Correction
Abstract
Biodegradable and compostable plastics are getting more attention as the environmental impacts of fossil-fuel-based plastics are revealed. Microbes can consume these plastics and biodegrade them within weeks to months under the proper conditions. The biobased polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer family is an attractive alternative [...] Read more.
Biodegradable and compostable plastics are getting more attention as the environmental impacts of fossil-fuel-based plastics are revealed. Microbes can consume these plastics and biodegrade them within weeks to months under the proper conditions. The biobased polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer family is an attractive alternative due to its physicochemical properties and biodegradability in soil, aquatic, and composting environments. Standard test methods are available for biodegradation that employ either natural inocula or defined communities, the latter being preferred for standardization and comparability. The original marine biodegradation standard test method ASTM D6691 employed such a defined consortium for testing PHA biodegradation. However, the taxonomic composition and metabolic potential of this consortium have never been confirmed using DNA sequencing technologies. To this end, we revived available members of this consortium and determined their phylogenetic placement, genomic sequence content, and metabolic potential. The revived members belonged to the Bacillaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, and Vibrionaceae families. Using a comparative genomics approach, we found all the necessary enzymes for both PHA production and utilization in most of the members. In a clearing-zone assay, three isolates also showed extracellular depolymerase activity. However, we did not find classical PHA depolymerases, but identified two potentially new extracellular depolymerases that resemble triacylglycerol lipases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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13 pages, 2951 KiB  
Communication
Vibrio Colonization Is Highly Dynamic in Early Microplastic-Associated Biofilms as Well as on Field-Collected Microplastics
by Katharina Kesy, Matthias Labrenz, Brittan S. Scales, Bernd Kreikemeyer and Sonja Oberbeckmann
Microorganisms 2021, 9(1), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9010076 - 30 Dec 2020
Cited by 65 | Viewed by 6135
Abstract
Microplastics are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems and provide a habitat for biofilm-forming bacteria. The genus Vibrio, which includes potential pathogens, was detected irregularly on microplastics. Since then, the potential of microplastics to enrich (and serve as a vector for) Vibrio has been [...] Read more.
Microplastics are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems and provide a habitat for biofilm-forming bacteria. The genus Vibrio, which includes potential pathogens, was detected irregularly on microplastics. Since then, the potential of microplastics to enrich (and serve as a vector for) Vibrio has been widely discussed. We investigated Vibrio abundance and operational taxonomic unit (OTU) composition on polyethylene and polystyrene within the first 10 h of colonization during an in situ incubation experiment, along with those found on particles collected from the Baltic Sea. We used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and co-occurrence networks to elaborate the role of Vibrio within biofilms. Colonization of plastics with Vibrio was detectable after one hour of incubation; however, Vibrio numbers and composition were very dynamic, with a more stable population at the site with highest nutrients and lowest salinity. Likewise, Vibrio abundances on field-collected particles were variable but correlated with proximity to major cities. Vibrio was poorly connected within biofilm networks. Taken together, this indicates that Vibrio is an early colonizer of plastics, but that the process is undirected and independent of the specific surface. Still, higher nutrients could enhance a faster establishment of Vibrio populations. These parameters should be considered when planning studies investigating Vibrio on microplastics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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12 pages, 30139 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Biodegradation Efficiency of Four Various Types of Plastics by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from the Gut Extract of Superworms
by Hyun Min Lee, Hong Rae Kim, Eunbeen Jeon, Hee Cheol Yu, Sukkyoo Lee, Jiaojie Li and Dae-Hwan Kim
Microorganisms 2020, 8(9), 1341; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8091341 - 2 Sep 2020
Cited by 68 | Viewed by 11067
Abstract
Plastic waste worldwide is becoming a serious pollution problem for the planet. Various physical and chemical methods have been tested in attempts to remove plastic dumps. However, these have usually resulted in secondary pollution issues. Recently, the biodegradation of plastic by fungal and [...] Read more.
Plastic waste worldwide is becoming a serious pollution problem for the planet. Various physical and chemical methods have been tested in attempts to remove plastic dumps. However, these have usually resulted in secondary pollution issues. Recently, the biodegradation of plastic by fungal and bacterial strains has been spotlighted as a promising solution to remove plastic wastes without generating secondary pollution. We have previously reported that a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain isolated from the gut of a superworm is capable of biodegrading polystyrene (PS) and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). Herein, we demonstrate the extraordinary biodegradative power of P. aeruginosa in efficiently depolymerizing four different types of plastics: PS, PPS, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). We further compared biodegradation rates for these four plastic types and found that PE was biodegraded fastest, whereas the biodegradation of PP was the slowest. Moreover, the growth rates of P. aeruginosa were not always proportional to biodegradation rates, suggesting that the rate of bacterial growth could be influenced by the composition and properties of intermediate molecules produced during plastic biodegradation, and these may supply useful cellular precursors and energy. In conclusion, an initial screening system to select the most suitable bacterial strain to biodegrade certain types of plastic is particularly important and may be necessary to solve plastic waste problems both presently and in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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13 pages, 3516 KiB  
Article
Complete Genome Sequence and Characterization of a Polyethylene Biodegradation Strain, Streptomyces Albogriseolus LBX-2
by Huanhuan Shao, Meiju Chen, Xueting Fei, Ronglin Zhang, Yue Zhong, Weimin Ni, Xiang Tao, XinYi He, Erliang Zhang, Bin Yong and Xuemei Tan
Microorganisms 2019, 7(10), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7100379 - 22 Sep 2019
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 6681
Abstract
A bacterial strain, Streptomyces albogriseolus LBX-2, was isolated from a soil sample in Chengdu, China. S. albogriseolus LBX-2 is an aerobic and Gram-positive microorganism that is capable of using the polyethylene as the sole carbon source. Results of scanning electron microscopy and tensile [...] Read more.
A bacterial strain, Streptomyces albogriseolus LBX-2, was isolated from a soil sample in Chengdu, China. S. albogriseolus LBX-2 is an aerobic and Gram-positive microorganism that is capable of using the polyethylene as the sole carbon source. Results of scanning electron microscopy and tensile tests indicated that S. albogriseolus LBX-2 could cause the damages to polyethylene (PE). Suspension culture of LBX-2 resulted in the weight loss in the PE powder over a 15-day period. The bacterial growth curve assay clearly demonstrated the utilization of n-hexadecane and n-octadecane for the strain LBX-2. Phylogenetic analysis showed that it was grouped in the same clade as S. albogriseolus belonging to Streptomyces. The complete genome of strain LBX-2 consists of a chromosome of 7,210,477 bp and a linear plasmid of 336,677 bp. Compared with other strains of Streptomyces, the genome size of S. albogriseolus LBX-2 was smaller than the average but its guanine and cytosine content (72.47%) was higher than the others. The Non-Redundant Protein Database (NR), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), SwissProt, Gene Ontology (GO) and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) annotations provided information on the specific functions of encoded proteins. A total of 21 monooxygenase and 22 dioxygenase genes were found in its genome. Synteny comparison with the genome of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) revealed a low overall genetic diversity between them. This study provides valuable information to reveal the underlying mechanisms on PE degradation by S. albogriseolus LBX-2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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3 pages, 184 KiB  
Correction
Correction: De Vogel, F.A., et al. Comparative Genomics of Marine Bacteria from a Historically Defined Plastic Biodegradation Consortium with the Capacity to Biodegrade Polyhydroxyalkanoates. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 186
by Fons A. de Vogel, Cathleen Schlundt, Robert E. Stote, Jo Ann Ratto and Linda A. Amaral-Zettler
Microorganisms 2021, 9(4), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040744 - 2 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2117
Abstract
The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes on Plastics, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind)
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