Unveiling microbial succession dynamics on different plastic surfaces using WGCNA

Area of Science:

• Marine microbiology
• Environmental science
• Polymer science

Background:

• Marine microorganisms increasingly colonize plastic debris.
• Colonization and succession processes on plastic surfaces are poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate microbiome succession on common plastic polymers (PE, PP, PS, PET), glass, and wood.
• Identify microbial succession signatures and polymer-specific enrichments.
• Understand early-stage microbiome variations and surface-related relationships.

Main Methods:

• Microbiome succession experiment in a controlled seawater system (2-90 days).
• Long-read 16S rRNA metabarcoding for prokaryotic microbiome profiling.
• Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified unique succession signatures for 77 bacterial genera.
• Observed polymer-specific enrichment in 39 bacterial genera.
• Most significant microbiome variations occurred during initial succession stages.

Conclusions:

• Microbial succession on marine plastic debris exhibits distinct patterns.
• WGCNA is a robust method for identifying bacterial taxa succession signatures.
• Early colonization stages are critical for microbiome composition on plastic surfaces.