Feels Like Home: A Biobased and Biodegradable Plastic Offers a Novel Habitat for Diverse Plant Pathogenic Fungi in Temperate Forest Ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA), a biodegradable plastic, is significantly colonized and degraded by soil microbes under natural field conditions, especially by fungal plant pathogens, raising concerns about potential economic losses. This study hypothesizes that the degradation of biodegradable plastics may increase the presence and abundance of plant pathogens by serving as an additional carbon source, ultimately posing a risk to forest ecosystems. We investigated (i) fungal plant pathogens during the exposure of PBSA in European broadleaved and coniferous forests (two forest types), with a specific focus on potential risk to tree health, and (ii) the response of such fungi to environmental factors, including tree species, soil pH, nutrient availability, moisture content, and

SUBMITTER: Nonthijun P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11663174 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature