Spatial Environmental Heterogeneity Determines Young Biofilm Assemblages on Microplastics in Baltic Sea Mesocosms.

ABSTRACT: Microplastics in aquatic environments provide novel habitats for surface-colonizing microorganisms. Given the continuing debate on whether substrate-specific properties or environmental factors prevail in shaping biofilm assemblages on microplastics, we examined the influence of substrate vs. spatial factors in the development of bacterial assemblages on polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), wood, and seston and in the free-living fraction. Further, the selective colonization of microplastics by potential pathogens was investigated because among the bacterial species found in microplastic-associated biofilms are potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp. Due to their persistence and great dispersal potential, microplastics could act as vectors for these potential pathogens and for biofilm as

SUBMITTER: Kesy K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6696623 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature