Caribbean coastal waters plastic discs 4 months Raw sequence reads

In this study, we investigated the effect of location, habitat, and UV treatment on microbial colonization of plastics exposed for ~4 months to tropical coastal waters (Saint Eustatius, Caribbean). To this end, PE, PP, PET, PS and PA were exposed to the water column and sediments. For PE and PP we also incubated 13C-labeled specimens allowing us tracing the 13C -label from the plastic into microbial biomass. The community in the biofilms covering the samples was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, and the uptake of plastic-derived carbon into biomass was assessed by lipid- stable isotope probing.