Dataset Information

Putative degraders of low-density polyethylene-derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic-associated bacterial communities in the marine environment.

ABSTRACT: It remains unknown whether and to what extent marine prokaryotic communities are capable of degrading plastic in the ocean. To address this knowledge gap, we combined enrichment experiments employing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as the sole carbon source with a comparison of bacterial communities on plastic debris in the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the northern Adriatic Sea. A total of 35 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were enriched in the LDPE-laboratory incubations after 1 year, of which 20 were present with relative abundances >?0.5% in at least one plastic sample collected from the environment. From these, OTUs classified as Cognatiyoonia, Psychrobacter, Roseovarius and Roseobacter were found in the communities of plastics collected at all oceanic sites. Additionally, OTUs classified as Roseobacter, Pseudophaeobacter, Phaeobacter, Marinovum and Cognatiyoonia, also enriched in the LDPE-laboratory incubations, were enriched on LDPE communities compared to the ones associated to glass and polypropylene in in-situ incubations in the northern Adriatic Sea after 1 month of incubation. Some of these enriched OTUs were also related to known alkane and hydrocarbon degraders. Collectively, these results demonstrate that there are prokaryotes capable of surviving with LDPE as the sole carbon source living on plastics in relatively high abundances in different water masses of the global ocean.

SUBMITTER: Pinto M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7702132 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Putative degraders of low-density polyethylene-derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic-associated bacterial communities in the marine environment.

Pinto Maria M Polania Zenner Paula P Langer Teresa M TM Harrison Jesse J Simon Meinhard M Varela Marta M MM Herndl Gerhard J GJ

Environmental microbiology 20200928 11

It remains unknown whether and to what extent marine prokaryotic communities are capable of degrading plastic in the ocean. To address this knowledge gap, we combined enrichment experiments employing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as the sole carbon source with a comparison of bacterial communities on plastic debris in the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the northern Adriatic Sea. A total of 35 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were enriched in the LDPE-laboratory incubations after 1 year, of ...[more]

PMID: 32935476

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Project description:Alkanes are major constituents of crude oil and are released to the marine environment by natural seepage and from anthropogenic sources. Due to their chemical inertness, their removal from anoxic marine sediments is primarily controlled by the activity of anaerobic alkane-degrading microorganisms. To facilitate comprehensive cultivation-independent surveys of the diversity and distribution of anaerobic alkane degraders, we designed novel PCR primers that cover all known diversity of the 1-methylalkyl succinate synthase gene (masD/assA), which catalyzes the initial activation of alkanes. We studied masD/assA gene diversity in pristine and seepage-impacted Danish coastal sediments, as well as in sediments and alkane-degrading enrichment cultures from the Middle Valley (MV) hydrothermal vent system in the Pacific Northwest. MasD/assA genes were ubiquitously present, and the primers captured the diversity of both known and previously undiscovered masD/assA gene diversity. Seepage sediments were dominated by a single masD/assA gene cluster, which is presumably indicative of a substrate-adapted community, while pristine sediments harbored a diverse range of masD/assA phylotypes including those present in seepage sediments. This rare biosphere of anaerobic alkane degraders will likely increase in abundance in the event of seepage or accidental oil spillage. Nanomolar concentrations of short-chain alkanes (SCA) were detected in pristine and seepage sediments. Interestingly, anaerobic alkane degraders closely related to strain BuS5, the only SCA degrader in pure culture, were found in mesophilic MV enrichments, but not in cold sediments from Danish waters. We propose that the new masD/assA gene lineages in these sediments represent novel phylotypes that are either fueled by naturally occurring low levels of SCA or that metabolize medium- to long-chain alkanes. Our study highlights that masD/assA genes are a relevant diagnostic marker to identify seepage and microseepage, e.g., during prospecting for oil and gas, and may act as an indicator of anthropogenic oil spills in marine sediments.

Dataset Information

Putative degraders of low-density polyethylene-derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic-associated bacterial communities in the marine environment.

Publications

Putative degraders of low-density polyethylene-derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic-associated bacterial communities in the marine environment.

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