Metabarcoding of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts from root-associated prokaryotic communities in maize and strawberry under artificial microplastic contamination

The impact of microplastics on rhizosphere bacterial and archaeal communities from strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) and maize (Zea mays)-planted soils was investigated. In a controlled greenhouse experiment, plants were grown in silty loam collected from agricultural land in Bavaria, Germany. The soils were amended with either pristine conventional low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) microplastics (1% w/w, size range: 75-400 µm), along with unamended controls. The experiment was conducted over 80-105 days. Impacts were assessed in unplanted bulk soils and planted soils, where we examined two distinct rhizosphere compartments: root-proximal and root-distal soil. High-throughput amplicon sequencing of both prokaryotic 16S rRNA genes and rRNA (universal primers targeting the V4 region) from 3 (DNA) - 5 (rRNA) biological replicates per treatment. Sequencing was performed on a Illumina iSeq.