Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Plastic materials and water sources actively select and shape wastewater plastispheres over time

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The daily use of plastics presents a serious pollution issue due to their extremely slow degradation. Microplastics and the biofilm that grows on plastics (i.e., the plastisphere) are important subsets of plastic wastes. Many studies have been conducted to reveal the structures of the plastispheres, the driving factors for the formation of the plastisphere, and the ability of the plastispheres to degrade plastics in a variety of water bodies. However, the plastispheres related to wastewater are understudied. In this study, we used a microcosmic strategy to study the evolution of the plastispheres associated with microplastics (MPs) over time in wastewater. We found that plastic materials and water sources did not actively select and shape the plastispheres at an early stage, but the active selection for a unique niche of the plastisphere occurred after 14 d of growth. In addition, we confirmed that the alkB gene was densely present, and metagenomics showed some additional chemical reactions, which suggests that MPs are consumed by the microbes in the plastispheres. Additionally, metagenomics identified some metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) associated with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The identification of HDPE-associated MAGs and PET-associated MAGs further supports the notion that the selection for a unique niche of the plastisphere is driven by plastic materials and water sources (in this study, after 14 d of growth). Our discoveries bring new views on the behavior of the wastewater-associated plastisphere, especially how long it takes a wastewater plastisphere to form.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aronesty E (2013). Comparison of sequencing utility programs. The Open Bioinformatics Journal, 7(1875–0362): 1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwat G, Zhu Q, O’Connor W, Subashchandrabose S, Grainge I, Knight R, Palanisami T (2021). Exploring the Composition and functions of plastic microbiome using whole-genome sequencing. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(8): 4899–4913

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Tender C A, Devriese L I, Haegeman A, Maes S, Ruttink T, Dawyndt P (2015). Bacterial community profiling of plastic litter in the belgian part of the North Sea. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(16): 9629–9638

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duan J, Bolan N, Li Y, Ding S, Atugoda T, Vithanage M, Sarkar B, Tsang D C W, Kirkham M B (2021). Weathering of microplastics and interaction with other coexisting constituents in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Water Research, 196: 117011

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen M, Mason S, Wilson S, Box C, Zellers A, Edwards W, Farley H, Amato S (2013). Microplastic pollution in the surface waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 77(1–2): 177–182

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Estahbanati S, Fahrenfeld N L (2016). Influence of wastewater treatment plant discharges on microplastic concentrations in surface water. Chemosphere, 162: 277–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo X P, Yang Y, Lu D P, Niu Z S, Feng J N, Chen Y R, Tou F Y, Garner E, Xu J, Liu M, Hochella M F JJr (2018). Biofilms as a sink for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the Yangtze Estuary. Water Research, 129: 277–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison J P, Schratzberger M, Sapp M, Osborn A M (2014). Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms. BMC Microbiology, 14(1): 232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang D D, Li F, Kirton E, Thomas A, Egan R, An H, Wang Z (2019). MetaBAT 2: An adaptive binning algorithm for robust and efficient genome reconstruction from metagenome assemblies. PeerJ, 7: e7359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazour M, Terki S, Rabhi K, Jemaa S, Khalaf G, Amara R (2019). Sources of microplastics pollution in the marine environment: Importance of wastewater treatment plant and coastal landfill. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 146: 608–618

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klindworth A, Pruesse E, Schweer T, Peplies J, Quast C, Horn M, Glöckner F O (2013). Evaluation of general 16S ribosomal RNA gene PCR primers for classical and next-generation sequencing-based diversity studies. Nucleic Acids Research, 41(1): e1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K (2018). MEGA X: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(6): 1547–1549

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lagarde F, Olivier O, Zanella M, Daniel P, Hiard S, Caruso A (2016). Microplastic interactions with freshwater microalgae: Hetero-aggregation and changes in plastic density appear strongly dependent on polymer type. Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987), 215: 331–339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lechner A, Keckeis H, Lumesberger-Loisl F, Zens B, Krusch R, Tritthart M, Glas M, Schludermann E (2014). The Danube so colourful: A potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe’s second largest river. Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987), 188(100): 177–181

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee C, Kim J, Shin S G, Hwang S (2008). Monitoring bacterial and archaeal community shifts in a mesophilic anaerobic batch reactor treating a high-strength organic wastewater. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 65(3): 544–554

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Chen L, Mei Q, Dong B, Dai X, Ding G, Zeng E Y (2018). Microplastics in sewage sludge from the wastewater treatment plants in China. Water Research, 142: 75–85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Long A M, Hou S, Ignacio-Espinoza J C, Fuhrman J A (2021). Benchmarking microbial growth rate predictions from metagenomes. ISME Journal, 15(1): 183–195

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu J, Zhang Y, Wu J, Luo Y (2019). Effects of microplastics on distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in recirculating aquaculture system. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 184: 109631

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick A, Hoellein T J, Mason S A, Schluep J, Kelly J J (2014). Microplastic is an abundant and distinct microbial habitat in an urban river. Environmental Science & Technology, 48(20): 11863–11871

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nauendorf A, Krause S, Bigalke N K, Gorb E V, Gorb S N, Haeckel M, Wahl M, Treude T (2016). Microbial colonization and degradation of polyethylene and biodegradable plastic bags in temperate fine-grained organic-rich marine sediments. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 103(1–2): 168–178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oberbeckmann S, Osborn A M, Duhaime M B (2016). Microbes on a bottle: substrate, season and geography influence community composition of microbes colonizing marine plastic debris. PLoS One, 11(8): e0159289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogonowski M, Schür C, Jarsén Å, Gorokhova E (2016). The effects of natural and anthropogenic microparticles on individual fitness in daphnia magna. PLoS One, 11(5): e0155063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pham D N, Clark L, Li M (2021). Microplastics as hubs enriching antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pathogens in municipal activated sludge. Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, 2: 100014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinnell L J, Turner J W (2019). Shotgun metagenomics reveals the benthic microbial community response to plastic and bioplastic in a coastal marine environment. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10: 1252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto M, Polania Zenner P, Langer T M, Harrison J, Simon M, Varela M M, Herndl G J (2020). Putative degraders of low-density polyethylene-derived compounds are ubiquitous members of plastic-associated bacterial communities in the marine environment. Environmental Microbiology, 22(11): 4779–4793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roux S, Enault F, Bronner G, Debroas D (2011). Comparison of 16S rRNA and protein-coding genes as molecular markers for assessing microbial diversity (Bacteria and Archaea) in ecosystems. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 78(3): 617–628

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seemann T (2014). Prokka: rapid prokaryotic genome annotation. Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 30(14): 2068–2069

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Son H F, Cho I J, Joo S, Seo H, Sagong H Y, Choi S Y, Lee S Y, Kim K J (2019). Rational protein engineering of thermo-stable PETase from ideonella sakaiensis for highly efficient PET degradation. ACS Catalysis, 9(4): 3519–3526

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toyofuku M, Inaba T, Kiyokawa T, Obana N, Yawata Y, Nomura N (2016). Environmental factors that shape biofilm formation. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 80(1): 7–12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu X, Pan J, Li M, Li Y, Bartlam M, Wang Y (2019). Selective enrichment of bacterial pathogens by microplastic biofilm. Water Research, 165: 114979

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Simmons B A, Singer S W (2016). MaxBin 2.0: An automated binning algorithm to recover genomes from multiple metagenomic datasets. Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 32(4): 605–607

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yin X, Jiang X, Chai B, Li L, Yang Y, Cole J R, Tiedje J M, Zhang T (2018). ARGs-OAP v2.0 with an expanded SARG database and Hidden Markov Models for enhancement characterization and quantification of antibiotic resistance genes in environmental metagenomes. Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 34(13): 2263–2270

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida S, Hiraga K, Takehana T, Taniguchi I, Yamaji H, Maeda Y, Toyohara K, Miyamoto K, Kimura Y, Oda K (2016). A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate). Science, 351(6278): 1196–1199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan B, McLachlan M S, Roos A M, Simon M, Strid A, de Wit C A (2021). Long-chain chlorinated paraffins have reached the arctic. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 8(9): 753–759

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng L, Li H, Wang T, Gao Y, Xiao K, Du Y, Wang Y, Jiang G (2013). Behavior, fate, and mass loading of short chain chlorinated paraffins in an advanced municipal sewage treatment plant. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(2): 732–740

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng L, Wang T, Ruan T, Liu Q, Wang Y, Jiang G (2012). Levels and distribution patterns of short chain chlorinated paraffins in sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plants in China. Environmental Pollution, 160(1): 88–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zettler E R, Mincer T J, Amaral-Zettler L A (2013). Life in the “plastisphere”: Microbial communities on plastic marine debris. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(13): 7137–7146

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Z, Baltar F, Herndl G J (2020). Linking extracellular enzymes to phylogeny indicates a predominantly particle-associated lifestyle of deep-sea prokaryotes. Science Advances, 6(16): eaaz4354

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Our research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFA1202500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42177357), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Research Foundation (China) (No. 2021A1515012191), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (China) (No. JCYJ20210324104412033). We thank the Center for Computational Science and Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology (China) (SUSTech) and the core research facilities at SUSTech for providing excellent resources and services. Moreover, we thank Dr. Chuanlun Zhang from the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering at SUSTech for lending QuantStudio qPCR.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Yu Xia, Xuyang Zhang, Miao Zhang, Liming Chen, Xiaotong Tang, Yuhong Sun & Xiang Li

  2. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Yu Xia & Xiang Li

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Yu Xia & Xiang Li

Authors
  1. Yu Xia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xuyang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Miao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Liming Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Xiaotong Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yuhong Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiang Li.

Additional information

Highlights

• Wastewater MPs exhibited resistomes and therefore health threats.

• High density of alkB gene indicates both HDPE and PET can be utilized by microbes.

• Plastics and waters actively selected and shaped the plastispheres over time.

• A broader phylogenetic spectrum of MHET-degrading microorganisms was annotated.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xia, Y., Zhang, X., Zhang, M. et al. Plastic materials and water sources actively select and shape wastewater plastispheres over time. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 16, 145 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1580-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1580-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation