Colored Plastic Pollution Reshapes Aquatic Microbial Community and Resistance Profile via Divergent Pseudonatural Dissolved Organic Matter.

ABSTRACT: Plastic pollution alters the natural organic carbon pool in aquatic ecosystems via releasing pseudonatural dissolved organic matter (DOM). However, the composition and subsequent ecological effects of DOM leached from differently colored plastics remain unclear. Here, pronounced heterogeneity in the DOM released by colored polyethylene (PE) plastics is revealed: red PE releases higher levels of DOM, whereas white, black, and yellow PE produce more labile DOM. As a result, these labile PE-derived DOM foster the growth of opportunistic taxa (notably copiotrophs within Pseudomonadota), reshaping community structure and resistance gene profiles. The elevated abundance of β-lactamase genes highlights the potential risk of antibiotic resistance dissemination associated with black PE plastic poll

SUBMITTER: Fang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12806204 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature