Trillions of plastic particles are polluting the oceans. But plastic has also become a habitat for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and algae. Researchers from #UFZ and @geomarkiel.bsky.social have discovered how these microbes survive. #Plastic #Plastisphere

🇬🇧 www.ufz.de/index.php?en...

Plastisphäre ©Dr. Thomas Neu/UFZ

Billionen von Plastikpartikeln vermüllen die Ozeane. Doch Plastik ist auch zu einem Lebensraum für Bakterien, Viren, Pilze und Algen geworden. Forschende von #UFZ und @geomarkiel.bsky.social haben herausgefunden, wie die Mikroben überleben. #Plastik #Plastisphere
👉 www.ufz.de/index.php?de...

The aquatic plastisphere: ecology, pathogen dissemination and antimicrobial resistance Nature Reviews Microbiology - In this Review, Ormsby and Quilliam discuss how plastic pollutants create a critical, novel habitat for complex microbial communities, highlighting the community...

Delighted to share our review in @natrevmicro.nature.com!

Here, myself and @richard-quilliam.bsky.social synthesise current knowledge on the aquatic #plastisphere, and assess the evidence for #plastics being #pathogen and #AMR reservoirs @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk @uofstirling-bes.bsky.social
rdcu.be/fbm6N

Temporal succession outweighs substrate characteristics in shaping riverine plastisphere biofilm on textiles Biofilms developing on plastic surfaces (the plastisphere) are increasingly recognized for their ecological significance, yet the drivers of community…

Temporal succession outweighs substrate characteristics in shaping riverine #plastisphere #biofilm on #textiles

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

“It’s a disease superhighway.” The shocking new ecosystem that’s evolving in our oceans | Discover Wildlife A unique synthetic ecosystem is evolving in our oceans – welcome to the plastisphere

Plastic pollution has created a whole new ocean ecosystem 🤯 The plastisphere is made of microbes living on floating plastic, helping invasive species and disease travel across the seas. This is not harmless litter.

#PlasticPollution #Plastisphere #OceanHealth #Microplastics

Behold the ‘Plastisphere’ Plastic debris provides living space for a variety of marine microbes.

#plastisphere
#oceans
#Greenpeace
#microplastics
#plasticpollution
www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feat...

Plastisphere provides a unique ecological niche for microorganisms in Zostera marina seagrass meadows - Communications Earth & Environment Microplastics interacting with cyanobacteria can alter microbial communities and functional genes, impacting carbon and nitrogen cycles in seagrass meadows and posing ecological risks, according to an...

The pros and cons of the #plastisphere in seagrass meadows - www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Very pleased to have attended the #ChinaGut2025 Conference (>8,000 participants) by the magnificent Dongqian Lake in Ningbo and shared my recent progress on the microbial risks of plastic pollution in the iMeta session.

#PlasticPollution #Plastisphere #Microbiome
@imetascience.bsky.social

Food or just a free ride? A meta-analysis reveals the global diversity of the Plastisphere AbstractIt is now indisputable that plastics are ubiquitous and problematic in ecosystems globally. Many suggestions have been made about the role that bio

Food or just a free ride? A meta-analysis reveals the global diversity of the #Plastisphere

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

When plastisphere and drilosphere meet: Earthworms facilitate microbiome and nutrient turnover to accelerate biodegradation of agricultural plastic films Agricultural plastic mulching films have been an environmental concern for decades. The effects of the interactions between the anthropogenic plastisp…

When #plastisphere and drilosphere meet: #Earthworms facilitate #microbiome and #nutrient turnover to accelerate #biodegradation of #agricultural #plastic films

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Better than Christmas 🎄 I’m officially #PhDone with 5 years of research on the #soil #plastisphere. Thank you to all my friends and family, to helpful colleagues and everyone who supported me during this journey at @gfz.bsky.social

Metatranscriptomics of microbial biofilm succession on HDPE foil: uncovering plastic-degrading potential in soil communities | Environmental Microbiome

Read full study here: rdcu.be/d27rq
MacLean, J., Bartholomäus, A., Blukis, R. et al. (2024) doi.org/10.1186/s407...
#PlasticPollution #MicrobialEcology #Plastisphere

PcoA plot showing the beta-diversity of microbial community in forest soil versus plastic-polluted soil and how biofilm sucession changes the community structure over time

Paper out in @BioMedCentral

1/ 🌱 We did a first #metatranscriptome study on #biofilm succession in the #soil #plastisphere and tracked #polyethylene (PE) plastics in soil over 53 days. Insights into biofilm dynamics, #plasticdegradation, and nitrogen fixation ahead! 🧵

SES student projects in my lab @mblscience.bsky.social are in their final phase. Today we are sequencing #plastisphere #microbiome using #nanopore

Metatranscriptomics of microbial biofilm succession on HDPE foil: uncovering plastic-degrading potential in soil communities

Finally out 🎉 Our #metatranscriptomics study on biofilm succession on #HDPE and functional genes in the #soil #plastisphere

rdcu.be/d041E

New publication: Zooming in the #plastisphere: the ecological interface for #phytoplankton–#plastic interactions in aquatic ecosystems, by @AM_Drost and others. #aquaticfoodwebs #microalgae #biodiversity #metabolictraits
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13164

Plastisphere composition in a subtropical estuary: Influence of season, incubation time and polymer type on plastic biofouling Plastics are abundant artificial substrates in aquatic systems that host a wide variety of organisms (the plastisphere), including potential pathogens…

🚨Our newest article assessing the #plastisphere of a subtropical estuary in Brazil is out🚨

This research, led by Tobias Sérvulo and Ana Luzia Lacerda, aimed to evaluate the influence of season, incubation time and polymer type on the diversity of the plastisphere.

Guest Episode - The Indisposable Podcast: Bioplastics and Plastic Alternatives You’ve probably heard of bioplastics, these new kinds of plastics that are marketed as environmentally friendly. If you’ve been following this show, you might know the episode from 2019 in which Anja

New #Plastisphere guest episode on bioplastics and plastic alternatives! Lisa Erdle of 5Gyres speaks with Brooking Gatewood of the Indisposable Podcast by Upstream. Listen here: on.soundcloud.com/3sYmYhRhSPKS...

Mood.

Via @Heifer #plastisphere #plasticbagban