Titelangaben
Jung, Aileen ; Bartnick, Ryan ; Thomas, Daniel C. ; Lehndorff, Eva ; Lüders, Tillmann:
Conventional and biodegradable microplastics elicit contrasting taxon-level responses in rhizosphere microbiomes of maize and strawberry.
In: FEMS Microbiology Ecology.
(2026)
.
- fiag040.
ISSN 1574-6941
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiag040
Angaben zu Projekten
| Projekttitel: |
Offizieller Projekttitel Projekt-ID SFB 1357: MIKROPLASTIK – Gesetzmäßigkeiten der Bildung, des Transports, des physikalisch-chemischen Verhaltens sowie der biologischen Effekte: Von Modell- zu komplexen Systemen als Grundlage neuer Lösungsansätze 391977956 |
|---|---|
| Projektfinanzierung: |
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
Abstract
Microplastics (MP) are relevant contaminants in agroecosystems, influencing soil nutrient dynamics and soil-plant-microbial interactions. As agriculture shifts from conventional to biodegradable plastics, their impacts on different crop rhizosphere microbiomes considering both total (DNA-derived) and active (rRNA-derived) communities have not been clearly elaborated. We hypothesized that microbiome impacts would be distinct across different plants and polymer types. Maize and strawberry plants were cultivated with 1% MP by soil weight, including two conventional polymers (LDPE, PET) and one biodegradable polymer (PBAT). Strawberry plants increased biomass across all MP treatments, accompanied by greater soil nitrate depletion. MP-induced impacts on soil prokaryotic communities were mostly additive to plant effects, as determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequence profiling. PBAT stimulated Cupriavidus spp. and members of Saccharimonadales, suggesting a selection of potential polymer-degraders and microbial interactions, independent of plant species and root proximity. In contrast, conventional MPs induced a less selective response with compositional shifts across a greater number of taxa. MP-induced changes were more apparent in rRNA- than DNA-derived profiles, suggesting a profound response of putative active taxa. Together, we demonstrate that plant species and MP type jointly modulate rhizosphere microbial community response to MP pollution, with direct implications for soil biogeochemistry, rhizosphere functioning, and crop performance.

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