PubMed · 2026-05-27
Biodegradable microplastics — the kind marketed as eco-friendly — disrupt soil microbial communities and carbon cycling more severely than conventional plastics, accelerating the breakdown and turnover of soil organic matter through interactions between bacteria and viruses.
Biodegradable microplastics caused significantly greater disruption to microbial carbon-cycling genes — including aerobic respiration, carbon fixation, and fermentation pathways — than conventional microplastics.
Biodegradable microplastics uniquely enriched specific microbial and viral communities that co-regulated key metabolic pathways, activating a 'viral shuttle' mechanism that accelerated turnover of dissolved organic matter.
The effects on soil carbon composition were modulated by fertilization regimes, with biodegradable microplastics driving enhanced accumulation of both labile (readily available) and recalcitrant (long-lasting) carbon components.