Microplastic bacterial communities in the Bay of Brest: Influence of polymer type and size

Type Article
Date 2018-11
Language English
Author(s) Frere Laura1, Maignien Lois2, Chalopin MorganeORCID3, Huvet ArnaudORCID3, Rinnert EmmanuelORCID4, Morrison HilaryORCID5, Kerninon Sandrine6, Cassone Anne-Laure1, Lambert ChristopheORCID1, Reveillaud Julie7, Paul-Pont Ika1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Inst Univ Europeen Mer, Lab Sci Environm Marin LEMAR, IFREMER, UMR 6539,CNRS,UBO,IRD, Technopole Brest Iroise,Rue Dumont dUrville, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
2 : Inst Univ Europeen Mer, Lab Microbiol Environm Extremes, IFREMER, UMR 6197,UBO,CNRS, Technopole Brest Iroise,Rue Dumont dUrville, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
3 : IFREMER, Lab Sci Environm Marin LEMAR, UMR 6539, UBO,CNRS,IRD,Ctr Bretagne, CS 10070, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
4 : IFREMER, Lab Detect Capteurs Mesures, RDT LDCM, Ctr Bretagne, ZI Pointe Diable,CS 10070, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
5 : Josephine Bay Paul Ctr Mol Biol & Evolut, Marine Biol Lab, 7 MBL St, Woods Hole, MA USA.
6 : LABOCEA, 22 Ave Plage Gueux,CS 13031, F-29334 Quimper, France.
7 : Univ Montpellier, INRA, CIRAD, ASTRE, Montpellier, France.
Source Environmental Pollution (0269-7491) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2018-11 , Vol. 242 , N. Part A , P. 614-625
DOI 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.07.023
WOS© Times Cited 236
Keyword(s) Bacteria, Microplastics, Coastal ecosystem, Metabarcoding, Vibrios
Abstract

Microplastics (<5 mm) exhibit intrinsic features such as density, hydrophobic surface, or high surface/volume ratio, that are known to promote microbial colonization and biofilm formation in marine ecosystems. Yet, a relatively low number of studies have investigated the nature of microplastic associated bacterial communities in coastal ecosystems and the potential factors influencing their composition and structure. Here, we characterized microplastics collected in the Bay of Brest by manual sorting followed by Raman spectroscopy and studied their associated bacterial assemblages using 16S amplicon high-throughput sequencing. Our methodology allowed discriminating polymer type (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) within small size ranges (0.3–1 vs. 1–2 vs. 2–5 mm) of microplastics collected. Data showed high species richness and diversity on microplastics compared to surrounding seawater samples encompassing both free living and particle attached bacteria. Even though a high proportion of operational taxonomic units (OTU; 94 ± 4%) was shared among all plastic polymers, polystyrene fragments exhibited distinct bacterial assemblages as compared to polyethylene and polypropylene samples. No effect of microplastic size was revealed regardless of polymer type, site and date of collection. The Vibrio genus was commonly detected in the microplastic fraction and specific PCR were performed to determine the presence of potentially pathogenic Vibrio strains (namely V. aestuarianus and the V. splendidus polyphyletic group). V. splendidus related species harboring putative oyster pathogens were detected on most microplastic pools (77%) emphasizing the need of further research to understand the role of microplastics on pathogen population transport and ultimate disease emergence.

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Frere Laura, Maignien Lois, Chalopin Morgane, Huvet Arnaud, Rinnert Emmanuel, Morrison Hilary, Kerninon Sandrine, Cassone Anne-Laure, Lambert Christophe, Reveillaud Julie, Paul-Pont Ika (2018). Microplastic bacterial communities in the Bay of Brest: Influence of polymer type and size. Environmental Pollution, 242(Part A), 614-625. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.07.023 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00449/56082/