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Biofilm formation by marine bacteria is impacted by concentration and surface functionalization of polystyrene nanoparticles in a species‐specific manner

From National Research Council Canada

DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12824
AuthorSearch for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6087-412X; Search for: ; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0133-7871; Search for: 1; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1546-3441
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. Energy, Mining and Environment
FormatText, Article
Abstract
The world's oceans are becoming increasingly polluted by plastic waste. In the marine environment, larger plastic pieces may degrade into nanoscale (<100 nm in at least one dimension) plastic particles due to natural weathering effects. We observe that the presence of 20 nm plastic nanoparticles at concentrations below 200 ppm had no impact on planktonic growth of a panel of heterotrophic marine bacteria. However, the presence of plastic nanoparticles significantly impacted the formation of biofilms in a species-specific manner. While carboxylated nanoparticles increased the amount of biofilm formed by several species, amidine-functionalized nanoparticles decreased the amount of biofilm of many but not all bacteria. Further experiments suggested that the aggregation dynamics of bacteria and nanoparticles were strongly impacted by the surface properties of the nanoparticles. The community structure of an artificially constructed community of marine bacteria was significantly altered by exposure to plastic nanoparticles, with differently functionalized nanoparticles selecting for unique and reproducible community abundance patterns. These results suggest that surface properties and concentration of plastic nanoparticles, as well as species interactions, are important factors determining how plastic nanoparticles impact biofilm formation by marine bacteria.
Publication date
PublisherWiley
Society for Applied Microbiology
In
  • Environmental Microbiology Reports 12, no. 2: 203–213.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
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Record identifierd85dadeb-8250-47a7-bbce-1cfaaf452f22
Record created2020-07-03
Record modified2021-09-17
Date modified: