Selective bacterial colonization processes on polyethylene waste samples in an abandoned landfill site.

ABSTRACT: The microbial colonization of plastic wastes has been extensively studied in marine environments, while studies on aged terrestrial wastes are scarce, and mostly limited to the isolation of plastic-degrading microorganisms. Here we have applied a multidisciplinary approach involving culturomics, next-generation sequencing analyses and fine-scale physico-chemical measurements to characterize plastic wastes retrieved in landfill abandoned for more than 35 years, and to assess the composition of bacterial communities thriving as biofilms on the films' surfaces. All samples were characterized by different colors but were all of polyethylene; IR and DSC analyses identified different level of degradation, while FT-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence further assessed the degradation level a

SUBMITTER: Puglisi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6775442 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature