TY - JOUR
T1 - Distinct microbial metabolic activities of biofilms colonizing microplastics in three freshwater ecosystems
AU - Miao, Lingzhan
AU - Yu, Yue
AU - Adyel, Tanveer M.
AU - Wang, Chengqian
AU - Liu, Zhilin
AU - Liu, Songqi
AU - Huang, Liuyan
AU - You, Guoxiang
AU - Meng, Meng
AU - Qu, Hao
AU - Hou, Jun
PY - 2021/2/5
Y1 - 2021/2/5
N2 - Concerns are growing about the increasing amounts of microplastics (MPs) and their ecological impacts, especially the influences of “plastisphere” in the freshwater ecosystems. Although the microbial structure and composition of biofilms are investigated, knowledge of their microbial functions remains limited. Herein, we investigated the functional diversity of carbon metabolism in biofilms colonizing one inert (glass) and two MPs as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates incubated for 44 days in situ in the Niushoushan River, the Qinhuai River, and Donghu Lake. 2D confocal laser scanning microscopy images visualized distinct micro-structures and biofilm compositions on three substrates. BIOLOG ECO microplates indicated variation on carbon utilization capacities of biofilms of inert and MPs in three freshwater ecosystems. Biofilms on PET showed lower capacities and carbon metabolism rates than those on glass and PVC, indicating the presence of substrate-specific functional diversity. The Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson diversity and Shannon evenness indices for the Niushoushan River and Donghu Lake were ordered as glass > PVC > PET. Besides to MPs-specific factors, environmental factors including nutrient (i.e., TN and TP) and turbidity largely shaped biofilm carbon metabolism. Overall findings demonstrated that as specific niches, MPs influenced microbial-mediated carbon cycling in the freshwater ecosystems and MPs-promoted microbial communities posed ecological significance.
AB - Concerns are growing about the increasing amounts of microplastics (MPs) and their ecological impacts, especially the influences of “plastisphere” in the freshwater ecosystems. Although the microbial structure and composition of biofilms are investigated, knowledge of their microbial functions remains limited. Herein, we investigated the functional diversity of carbon metabolism in biofilms colonizing one inert (glass) and two MPs as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates incubated for 44 days in situ in the Niushoushan River, the Qinhuai River, and Donghu Lake. 2D confocal laser scanning microscopy images visualized distinct micro-structures and biofilm compositions on three substrates. BIOLOG ECO microplates indicated variation on carbon utilization capacities of biofilms of inert and MPs in three freshwater ecosystems. Biofilms on PET showed lower capacities and carbon metabolism rates than those on glass and PVC, indicating the presence of substrate-specific functional diversity. The Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson diversity and Shannon evenness indices for the Niushoushan River and Donghu Lake were ordered as glass > PVC > PET. Besides to MPs-specific factors, environmental factors including nutrient (i.e., TN and TP) and turbidity largely shaped biofilm carbon metabolism. Overall findings demonstrated that as specific niches, MPs influenced microbial-mediated carbon cycling in the freshwater ecosystems and MPs-promoted microbial communities posed ecological significance.
KW - Biofilm
KW - Environmental factor
KW - Metabolic function
KW - Microplastics
KW - Substrate type
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089227579&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123577
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123577
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089227579
VL - 403
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
SN - 0304-3894
M1 - 123577
ER -