A Pan-European study of the bacterial plastisphere diversity along river-to-sea continuums
Résumé
Microplastics provide a persistent substrate that can facilitate the transport of microbes from one ecosystem to another. Since most marine plastic debris originates from land and is carried to the ocean by rivers, a significant concern about the plastisphere is the potential dispersal of freshwater bacteria into the sea. To address this question, we explored the plastisphere on microplastic debris (MPs) and on pristine microplastics (pMPs) as well as the bacteria living in surrounding waters, along the river-sea continuum in nine major European rivers sampled during the seven months of the Tara Microplastics mission. In both marine and riverine waters, we found a clear niche partitioning among MPs and pMPs plastispheres when compared to the bacteria living in the surrounding waters. Among the large dataset, we found a clear gradient of bacterial community structure from the freshwater to the sea, with a complete segregation in plastisphere composition between the two ecosystems. We also described for the first time a virulent human pathogenic bacteria on MPs (Shewanella putrefaciens) able to infect human intestinal epithelial cells, that was only detected in river. Our results reinforce the major role played by the environmental conditions in shaping plastisphere biodiversity, that is not consistent with a critical transfer of pathogens between freshwater and seawater ecosystems.
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