Biofilms on microplastics – composition, genetic potential, and function examined by meta-proteogenomics. Biofilms on microplastics

Microplastics (PE, PS) and wooden pellets were incubated for 2 weeks along an environmental gradient from the coastal Baltic Sea to a river estuary (Warnow, Germany). The resulting microbial biofilm communities were compared using metagenomics as well as metaproteomics. Taxonomic and functional differences were found according to station and sample type. Overall, the environmental conditions had a stronger impact on the biofilm communities than the substrates themselves. Within the plastic associated communities, neither polymer degradation nor pathogenicity processes did play a relevant role. Our study represents the first approach to analyse microplastic biofilms using meta-proteogenomics.