Soil pH has a stronger effect than arsenic content on shaping plastisphere bacterial communities in soil

Huan-Qin Li; Ying-Jia Shen; Wen-Lei Wang; Hong-Tao Wang; Hu Li; Jian-Qiang Su

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117339

Soil pH has a stronger effect than arsenic content on shaping plastisphere bacterial communities in soil

Environ Pollut. 2021 Oct 15:287:117339. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117339. Epub 2021 May 10.

Authors

Huan-Qin Li¹, Ying-Jia Shen², Wen-Lei Wang³, Hong-Tao Wang⁴, Hu Li⁵, Jian-Qiang Su⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361102, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China.
² Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361102, China.
³ Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, 361021, China.
⁴ College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China. Electronic address: jqsu@iue.ac.cn.

PMID: 34000668
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117339

Abstract

Microplastic (MP) pollution is widespread in various ecosystems and is colonized by microbes that form biofilms with compositions and functions. However, compared with aquatic environments, the soil environment has been poorly studied in terms of the taxonomic composition of microbial communities and the factors influencing the community structure of microbes in the plastisphere. In the present study, a microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the plastisphere bacterial communities of MP (polyvinyl chloride, PVC) in soils with different pH (4.62, 6.5, and 7.46) and arsenic (As) contents (13 and 74 mg kg^-1). Bacterial communities in the plastisphere were dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, with distinct compositions and structures compared with soil bacterial communities. Soil pH and As content significantly affected the plastisphere bacterial communities. Constrained analysis of principal coordinates and a structural equation model demonstrated that soil pH had a stronger influence on the dissimilarity and diversity of bacterial communities than did soil As content. Soil pH affected As speciation in soil and on MP. The concentration of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) was significantly higher on MP than that in soil, indicating that As methylation occurred on MP. These results suggest that environmental fluctuations govern plastisphere bacterial communities with cascading effects on biogeochemical cycling of As in the soil ecosystems.

Keywords: Arsenic; Bacterial community; Microplastics; Plastisphere; pH.

MeSH terms

Arsenic*
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Microbiota*
Plastics
Soil
Soil Microbiology

Substances

Plastics
Soil
Arsenic