DOI 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115911 The increasing threats to ecosystems and humans from marine plastic pollution require a comprehensive assessment. We present a plastisphere case study from Reunion Island, a remote oceanic island located in the Southwest Indian Ocean, polluted by plastics. We characterized the plastic pollution on the island's coastal waters, described the associated microbiome, explored viable bacterial flora and the presence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria. Reunion Island faces plastic pollution with up to 10,000 items/km2 in coastal water. These plastics host microbiomes dominated by Proteobacteria (80 %), including dominant genera such as Psychrobacter, Photobacterium, Pseudoalteromonas and Vibrio. Culturable microbiomes reach 107 CFU/g of microplastics, with dominance of Exiguobacterium and Pseudomonas. Plastics also carry AMR bacteria including β-lactam resistance. Thus, Southwest Indian Ocean islands are facing serious plastic pollution. This pollution requires vigilant monitoring as it harbors a plastisphere including AMR, that threatens pristine ecosystems and potentially human health through the marine food chain.
Reunion Island, Plastic marine pollution, Microbiome, Proteobacteria, AMR bacteria
| File | Pages | Size | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Publisher's official version | 12 | 2 Mo | ||
Supplemental Fig. 1. Diagram of NGS data analysis process. | - | 264 Ko | ||
Supplemental Fig. 2. a, b, c, d / Supplemental Fig 3 | - | 79 Ko | ||
Supplemental Table 1, Table 2. a, b, c, Table 4a, Table 4b, Table 4c, Table 4d, Table 5a, Table 5b, Table 5c, Table 5d, Table 6, Table 8, Table 8b, Table 9 | - | 67 Ko | ||
Supplemental Table 3. Excel file presenting the full taxonomic list of the 1084 identified OTUs and their sample distribution at Phylum level and Proteobacteria genera level. | - | 36 Ko | ||
Supplemental Table 7. Excel file presenting the list of the 105 cultivable bacterial strains isolated from selective media and identified at genus level by MaldiTof. | - | 4 Ko | ||
Author's final draft | 48 | 738 Ko |
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