marine-microbes
Marine microbes are microscopic organisms including bacteria, algae, archaea, and viruses that inhabit saltwater environments. Many are photosynthetic, providing key insights into photosynthetic mechanisms, nutrient cycling, and oxygen production that inform fundamental plant biology research. These diverse organisms also demonstrate important plant-microbe interactions and produce bioactive compounds with potential applications in agricultural biotechnology.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-03-22
Bacteria harvested from mangrove sediments can form biofilms that break down common plastics like polyester and polystyrene, causing surface degradation and mechanical weakening. This finding could inform new biotechnological approaches to combat plastic pollution in marine environments.
Polystyrene (20.14% mass loss) and PET (8.33% mass loss) showed highest degradation after 120 days; biofilms caused nanoscale pitting and oxidative chemical modifications to polymer surfaces
Mechanical tensile strength decreased proportionally with surface erosion, demonstrating that biofilm-mediated degradation compromises structural integrity of polymers
Mangrove sediments host plastic-degrading microbial consortia that operate through biofilm-driven surface depolymerization rather than bulk degradation