Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments
Plastics pose a significant environmental threat, prompting extensive studies on their impact. These studies often focus on the differential bacterial compositions of biofilms growing on plastic surfaces. However, little is known about the influence of plastics on bacterial communities in surroundin...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025019164 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850113954550906880 |
|---|---|
| author | Aniruddha Bhalerao Urda Dueker Miriam Weber Andreas Eich Christian Lott Jacek Lecinski Hans Josef Endres Regina Nogueira |
| author_facet | Aniruddha Bhalerao Urda Dueker Miriam Weber Andreas Eich Christian Lott Jacek Lecinski Hans Josef Endres Regina Nogueira |
| author_sort | Aniruddha Bhalerao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plastics pose a significant environmental threat, prompting extensive studies on their impact. These studies often focus on the differential bacterial compositions of biofilms growing on plastic surfaces. However, little is known about the influence of plastics on bacterial communities in surrounding environments such as eulittoral sandy beach sediments. Therefore, we investigated the effects of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and biodegradable plastic alternative, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), alongside bamboo as a natural material, on Mediterranean Sea beach sediments in a 258-day field test. After exposure, 16S rDNA sequencing analysis revealed that a distinct bacterial community developed in the sediments surrounding test materials, differing significantly from natural sediments that were not in contact with test materials. The test material-contact sediment displayed a higher relative abundance of bacterial orders capable of test material biodegradation. The test material's impact on surrounding sediments varied depending on its type and biodegradability. The sediments in contact with biodegradable materials (PHB and Bamboo) showed a higher number of unique orders than HDPE-contact and natural sediments. The comparison of biofilm growing on PHB with PHB-contact and natural sediments showed that the PHB biofilm contained a higher abundance of PHB-degrading bacterial orders (e.g. Desulfobacterales) and its bacterial composition was significantly different from that of PHB-contact and natural sediments, indicating that the effect of the test materials was most pronounced on their surface. Our study is novel as it demonstrates that the effects of plastics, their replacements, and natural materials extend beyond surface biofilms and impact surrounding environments, emphasizing the need for future research to consider the broader ecological implications of plastics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-66d7883148a342f280e16165e8ba5f7c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj-art-66d7883148a342f280e16165e8ba5f7c2025-08-20T02:37:02ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402025-07-011112e4353010.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e43530Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sedimentsAniruddha Bhalerao0Urda Dueker1Miriam Weber2Andreas Eich3Christian Lott4Jacek Lecinski5Hans Josef Endres6Regina Nogueira7Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management, Leibniz University Hannover, Welfengarten 1, D-30167, Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management, Leibniz University Hannover, Welfengarten 1, D-30167, Hannover, GermanyHYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH, Steinfeldweg 15, 77815, Bühl, GermanyHYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH, Steinfeldweg 15, 77815, Bühl, GermanyHYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH, Steinfeldweg 15, 77815, Bühl, GermanyInstitute of Plastics and Circular Economy, Leibniz University Hannover, An der Universität 2, 30823, Garbsen, GermanyInstitute of Plastics and Circular Economy, Leibniz University Hannover, An der Universität 2, 30823, Garbsen, GermanyInstitute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management, Leibniz University Hannover, Welfengarten 1, D-30167, Hannover, Germany; Corresponding author.Plastics pose a significant environmental threat, prompting extensive studies on their impact. These studies often focus on the differential bacterial compositions of biofilms growing on plastic surfaces. However, little is known about the influence of plastics on bacterial communities in surrounding environments such as eulittoral sandy beach sediments. Therefore, we investigated the effects of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and biodegradable plastic alternative, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), alongside bamboo as a natural material, on Mediterranean Sea beach sediments in a 258-day field test. After exposure, 16S rDNA sequencing analysis revealed that a distinct bacterial community developed in the sediments surrounding test materials, differing significantly from natural sediments that were not in contact with test materials. The test material-contact sediment displayed a higher relative abundance of bacterial orders capable of test material biodegradation. The test material's impact on surrounding sediments varied depending on its type and biodegradability. The sediments in contact with biodegradable materials (PHB and Bamboo) showed a higher number of unique orders than HDPE-contact and natural sediments. The comparison of biofilm growing on PHB with PHB-contact and natural sediments showed that the PHB biofilm contained a higher abundance of PHB-degrading bacterial orders (e.g. Desulfobacterales) and its bacterial composition was significantly different from that of PHB-contact and natural sediments, indicating that the effect of the test materials was most pronounced on their surface. Our study is novel as it demonstrates that the effects of plastics, their replacements, and natural materials extend beyond surface biofilms and impact surrounding environments, emphasizing the need for future research to consider the broader ecological implications of plastics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025019164Bacterial diversityBiodegradable plasticsMarine pollutionPlastic wasteSediments |
| spellingShingle | Aniruddha Bhalerao Urda Dueker Miriam Weber Andreas Eich Christian Lott Jacek Lecinski Hans Josef Endres Regina Nogueira Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments Heliyon Bacterial diversity Biodegradable plastics Marine pollution Plastic waste Sediments |
| title | Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| title_full | Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| title_fullStr | Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| title_short | Material Matters: Unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), conventional high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| title_sort | material matters unraveling the effect of biodegradable plastic polyhydroxybutyrate phb conventional high density polyethylene hdpe and bamboo on the bacterial community of marine eulittoral sediments |
| topic | Bacterial diversity Biodegradable plastics Marine pollution Plastic waste Sediments |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025019164 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aniruddhabhalerao materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT urdadueker materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT miriamweber materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT andreaseich materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT christianlott materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT jaceklecinski materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT hansjosefendres materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments AT reginanogueira materialmattersunravelingtheeffectofbiodegradableplasticpolyhydroxybutyratephbconventionalhighdensitypolyethylenehdpeandbambooonthebacterialcommunityofmarineeulittoralsediments |