Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.

Over recent decades, marine microorganisms have increasingly adapted to plastic debris, forming distinct plastic-attached microbial communities. Despite this, the colonization and succession processes on plastic surfaces in marine environments remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Keren Davidov, Sheli Itzahri, Liat Anabel Sinberger, Matan Oren
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318843
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823856814969585664
author Keren Davidov
Sheli Itzahri
Liat Anabel Sinberger
Matan Oren
author_facet Keren Davidov
Sheli Itzahri
Liat Anabel Sinberger
Matan Oren
author_sort Keren Davidov
collection DOAJ
description Over recent decades, marine microorganisms have increasingly adapted to plastic debris, forming distinct plastic-attached microbial communities. Despite this, the colonization and succession processes on plastic surfaces in marine environments remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a microbiome succession experiment using four common plastic polymers (PE, PP, PS, and PET), as well as glass and wood, in a temperature-controlled seawater system over a 2- to 90-day period. We employed long-read 16S rRNA metabarcoding to profile the prokaryotic microbiome's taxonomic composition at five time points throughout the experiment. By applying Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to our 16S metabarcoding data, we identified unique succession signatures for 77 bacterial genera and observed polymer-specific enrichment in 39 genera. Our findings also revealed that the most significant variations in microbiome composition across surfaces occurred during the initial succession stages, with potential intra-genus relationships that are linked to surface preferences. This research advances our understanding of microbial succession dynamics on marine plastic debris and introduces a robust statistical approach for identifying succession signatures of specific bacterial taxa.
format Article
id doaj-art-40077026732c4b509ab0c963b0fddf95
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-40077026732c4b509ab0c963b0fddf952025-02-12T05:31:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031884310.1371/journal.pone.0318843Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.Keren DavidovSheli ItzahriLiat Anabel SinbergerMatan OrenOver recent decades, marine microorganisms have increasingly adapted to plastic debris, forming distinct plastic-attached microbial communities. Despite this, the colonization and succession processes on plastic surfaces in marine environments remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a microbiome succession experiment using four common plastic polymers (PE, PP, PS, and PET), as well as glass and wood, in a temperature-controlled seawater system over a 2- to 90-day period. We employed long-read 16S rRNA metabarcoding to profile the prokaryotic microbiome's taxonomic composition at five time points throughout the experiment. By applying Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to our 16S metabarcoding data, we identified unique succession signatures for 77 bacterial genera and observed polymer-specific enrichment in 39 genera. Our findings also revealed that the most significant variations in microbiome composition across surfaces occurred during the initial succession stages, with potential intra-genus relationships that are linked to surface preferences. This research advances our understanding of microbial succession dynamics on marine plastic debris and introduces a robust statistical approach for identifying succession signatures of specific bacterial taxa.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318843
spellingShingle Keren Davidov
Sheli Itzahri
Liat Anabel Sinberger
Matan Oren
Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
PLoS ONE
title Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
title_full Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
title_fullStr Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
title_full_unstemmed Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
title_short Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA.
title_sort unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using wgcna
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318843
work_keys_str_mv AT kerendavidov unveilingmicrobialsuccessiondynamicsondifferentplasticsurfacesusingwgcna
AT sheliitzahri unveilingmicrobialsuccessiondynamicsondifferentplasticsurfacesusingwgcna
AT liatanabelsinberger unveilingmicrobialsuccessiondynamicsondifferentplasticsurfacesusingwgcna
AT matanoren unveilingmicrobialsuccessiondynamicsondifferentplasticsurfacesusingwgcna