Marine bacterial biofilm communities display non-specific primo-colonization followed by strong community succession on plastic and inert substrates

In situ experimental incubation of various plastic polymers and inert substrates under natural conditions can further our understanding of the extent of substrate-specific colonization and bacterial successional changes during early stages of biofilm establishment. To investigate the bacterial succession and specificity of bacterial attachment on surfaces, here, three types of materials, two plastic substrates (polyethylene terephthalate - PET and polyethylene - PE) and glass as an inert material were tested in a seawater immersion study with multiple sampling time points. Microbial community profiles from select time points between 12 hours and Day 7 were then generated via high throughput sequencing.