Microbial Consortiums of Putative Degraders of Low-Density Polyethylene-Associated Compounds in the Ocean
Maria Pinto, Zihao Zhao, Katja Klun, Eugen Libowitzky, Gerhard J. Herndl
Abstract
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is one of the most used plastics worldwide, and a large portion of it ends up in the ocean. Very little is known about its fate in the ocean and whether it can be biodegraded by microorganisms. By combining 2-year incubations with metagenomics, respiration measurements, and LDPE surface analysis, we identified bacteria and associated genes and metabolic pathways potentially involved in LDPE biodegradation. After 2 years of incubation, two of the microbial communities exhibited very similar taxonomic compositions mediating changes to the LDPE pieces they were incubated with. We provide evidence that there are plastic-biofilm dwelling bacteria in the ocean that might have the potential to degrade LDPE-associated compounds and that alkane degradation pathways might be involved.