• Research discovers new bacteria that sti

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Friday, April 29, 2022 22:30:48
    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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