AWI
scientists have now proven that a group of such bacteria known as ‘vibrios’ can
survive on microplastic particles. In the future, they want to investigate in
greater detail the role of these particles on the accumulation and possible
distribution of these bacteria.
Dr.
Gunnar Gerdts, microbiologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre
for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) on Heligoland explains. In moderate
summers, the bacteria are only sporadically evident in sea water, but can
proliferate explosively during heat waves if water temperatures rise above 22
degree Celsius. Especially in nearshore areas of the Baltic Sea, such heatwaves
have in the past repeatedly been associated with cases of disease or death
caused by the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus.
Gerdts
and his team have taken samples from the sea and examined whether the bacteria
benefit from a new habitat known as the plastisphere. Bacteria, fungi and
microalgae growing in a mucous layer live in biofilms on the surface of plastic
particles. They are known, for example, as the basis for growth on ships'
hulls. The composition of these biofilms varies depending on the condition of
the surface and the living organisms in the surrounding water. Gene sequencing
suggested that’ vibrios’ may also be part of this ecosystem.
For
further details see:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
