Time-course biofilm formation and presence of antibiotic resistance genes on everyday plastic items deployed in river waters under different environmental conditions

In this study, we characterized the long-term biofilm formation on four types of everyday plastics: a plastic dish, a bottle of water, a pipe, and a plastic bag. These everyday plastics were incubated for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year into two different locations in the same river, characterized for different levels of contamination. This study aimed to analyze the development of microbial biofilms in these plastics under different pollution exposure conditions in comparison with non-plastic substrates (rock and borosilicate [BS] glass) and free-living water bacteria as well as to what extent the different plastics suffered structural alterations along the one year-incubation period under natural conditions in aquatic ecosystems. We hypothesized that the type of polymer might select for specific biofilm-forming microorganisms different from the biofilms formed on the non-plastic substrates and free-living water microorganisms.