Collateral effects of microplastic pollution on aquatic microorganisms
- Microplastics (MP) provide a unique and extensive surface for microbial colonization in aquatic ecosystems. The formation of microorganism-microplastic complexes, such as biofilms, maximizes the degradation of organic matter and horizontal gene transfer. In this context, MP affect the structure and function of microbial communities, which in turn render the physical and chemical fate of MP. This new paradigm generates challenges for microbiology, ecology, and ecotoxicology. Dispersal of MP is concomitant with that of their associated microorganisms and their mobile genetic elements, including antibiotic resistance genes, islands of pathogenicity, and diverse metabolic pathways. Functional changes in aquatic microbiomes can alter carbon metabolism and food webs, with unknown consequences on higher organisms or human microbiomes and hence health. Here, we examine a variety of effects of MP pollution from the microbial ecology perspective, whose repercussions on aquatic ecosystems begin to be unraveled. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rightsMicroplastics (MP) provide a unique and extensive surface for microbial colonization in aquatic ecosystems. The formation of microorganism-microplastic complexes, such as biofilms, maximizes the degradation of organic matter and horizontal gene transfer. In this context, MP affect the structure and function of microbial communities, which in turn render the physical and chemical fate of MP. This new paradigm generates challenges for microbiology, ecology, and ecotoxicology. Dispersal of MP is concomitant with that of their associated microorganisms and their mobile genetic elements, including antibiotic resistance genes, islands of pathogenicity, and diverse metabolic pathways. Functional changes in aquatic microbiomes can alter carbon metabolism and food webs, with unknown consequences on higher organisms or human microbiomes and hence health. Here, we examine a variety of effects of MP pollution from the microbial ecology perspective, whose repercussions on aquatic ecosystems begin to be unraveled. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.…
| Author details: | Maria Arias-AndresORCiDGND, Keilor Rojas-JimenezORCiDGND, Hans-Peter GrossartORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.11.041 |
| ISSN: | 0165-9936 |
| ISSN: | 1879-3142 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Trends in Analytical Chemistry |
| Subtitle (English): | An ecological perspective |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| Place of publishing: | Oxford |
| Publication type: | Review |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2018/12/05 |
| Publication year: | 2018 |
| Release date: | 2021/03/30 |
| Tag: | Aquatic ecosystems; Biofilms; Carbon cycling; HGT; Health risk assessment; Microbial ecology; Microplastics (MP) |
| Volume: | 112 |
| Number of pages: | 7 |
| First page: | 234 |
| Last Page: | 240 |
| Funding institution: | Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica; Leibniz SAW project MikrOMIK [SAW-2014-IOW-2] |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
| DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Publishing method: | Open Access / Bronze Open-Access |
