New Surface Marine Microplastics for Colonization, Biofilm Formation and Biodegradation

Subject Areas : Biotechnological Journal of Environmental Microbiology

Nahid Masoumi ¹ (Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences, Tehran Medical Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Seyed Reza Hosseini Doust ² (Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences, Tehran Medical Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Morteza Azizollahi ³ (PhD student, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences , Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Maryam Mianabadi ⁴ (Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Tehran Medical Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2023-06-14 Accepted : 2023-06-27 Published : 2022-07-01

Keywords: Microorganisms, Microplastics, Biofilm communities, Microbial degradation,

Abstract :

We have known that microplastics (MPs) in the ocean are carriers of microbial-dominated assemblages and are rapidly colonized by microbes when released into the ocean. However, the role of microbial interactions with microplastics in marine ecosystems has been investigated in detail recently. The presence of microplastics in the marine environment has been raising global attention. Microparticles transport biofilm communities that are distinct from the surrounding environment. Although plastic-colonizing microorganisms are important for the fate of MPs in different ecosystems their influence on the fate of microplastics is largely unknown. In this review, we focused on the establishment of plastic-specific biofilms (plastisphere); the enrichment of pathogenic bacteria coupled to a vector function of microplastics; and the microbial degradation of microplastics in the marine environment. In addition, providing a better understanding of plastisphere and biofilm expansion in marine environments, and discusses plastic biodegradation. Also, the identification of potentially pathogenic in the plastisphere is considered.