Research discovers new bacteria that stick to plastic in the deep sea to travel around the ocean

Date:
April 29, 2022
Source:
Newcastle University
Summary:
Scientists have found new types of plastic loving bacteria that
stick to plastic in the deep sea that may enable them to 'hitchhike'
across the ocean.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Newcastle University scientists have found new types of plastic loving
bacteria that stick to plastic in the deep sea that may enable them to 'hitchhike' across the ocean.


==========================================================================
The team showed for the first time that these deep-sea, plastic loving
bacteria make up only 1% of the total bacterial community. Reporting their findings in the journal Environmental Pollution, the team found that these bacteria only stick to plastic and not the non-plastic control of stone.

The research highlights these bacteria may be able to 'hitchhike' across
the deep sea by attaching to plastic, enhancing microbial connectivity
across seemingly isolated environments.

To uncover these mysteries of the deep-sea 'plastisphere', the team
used a deep-sea 'lander' in the North-East Atlantic to deliberately
sink two types of plastic, polyurethane and polystyrene, in the deep
(1800m) and then recover the material to reveal a group of plastic
loving bacteria. This method helps tackle the issue of how plastics
and subsequently, our understanding of the 'plastisphere' (microbial
community attached to plastic) are sampled in the environment to provide consistent results.

The scientists observed a mix of diverse and extreme living bacteria,
including Calorithrix,which is also found in deep-sea hydrothermal
vent systems and Spirosoma, which has been isolated from the Arctic
permafrost. Other bacteria included the Marine Methylotrophic Group 3 --
a group of bacteria isolated from deep-sea methane seeps, and Aliivibrio,
a pathogen that has negatively affected the fish farming industry,
highlighting a growing concern for the presence of plastic in the ocean.

In their most recent work, they have also found a strain originally
isolated from RMS Titanic named Halomonas titanicae.While the rust-eating microbe was originally found on the shipwreck, the researchers have
now shown it also loves to stick to plastic and is capable of low
crystallinity plastic degradation.

The research was led by Max Kelly, a PhD student at Newcastle University's School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.

He said: "The deep sea is the largest ecosystem on earth and likely
a final sink for the vast majority of plastic that enters the marine environment, but it is a challenging place to study. Combining deep-sea experts, engineers, and marine microbiologists, our team is helping
to elucidate the bacterial community that can to stick to plastic to
reveal the final fate of deep-sea plastic." Microplastics (fragments
with a diameter smaller than 5mm) make up 90% of the plastic debris
found at the ocean surface and the amount of plastic entering our ocean
is significantly larger than the estimates of floating plastic on the
surface of the ocean. Although the plastic loving bacteria found in the
study here represent a small fraction of the community colonising plastic,
they highlight the emerging ecological impacts of plastic pollution in
the environment.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Newcastle_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Max R. Kelly, Paul Whitworth, Alan Jamieson, J. Grant
Burgess. Bacterial
colonisation of plastic in the Rockall Trough, North-East
Atlantic: An improved understanding of the deep-sea
plastisphere. Environmental Pollution, 2022; 305: 119314 DOI:
10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119314 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220429145043.htm

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