Data for: Ocean acidification has a strong effect on communities living on plastic in mesocosms

We conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine how ocean acidification (OA) affects communities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes growing on single-use drinking bottles in subtropical eutrophic waters of the East China Sea. Based on 16S rDNA gene sequencing, simulated high CO2 significantly altered the prokaryotic community, with the relative abundance of the phylum Planctomycetota increasing by 49 % under high CO2. Under high CO2, prokaryotes in plastisphere significantly enhanced nitrogen dissimilation and ureolysis, raising the possibility that elevated CO2 may modify nutrient cycling in subtropical eutrophic waters. The relative abundance of pathogenic and animal parasite bacteria also increased under simulated high CO2. Our results show that simulated high CO2 significantly affected some secondary producers based on 18S rDNA gene sequencing. For example, Mayorella amoebae were highly resistant to OA whereas labyrinthulids were sensitive to high CO2. This shows that OA may alter plastisp..., Mesocosm setup
We used the Facility for the Study of Ocean Acidification Impacts of Xiamen University (24◦ 31’48” N, 118◦10’47” E), starting October 9th, 2019, for 32 days (Figure 1). Nine cylindrical transparent thermoplastic polyurethane mesocosm bags, each 3 m deep x 1.5 m diameter were fixed in steel frames and covered by cone lids. In situ seawater around the platform was filtered (pore size of 0.01 mm, MU801-4T, Midea, China) with pre-filtration by 5mm nylon net and then pumped simultaneously into the bags, filling them with 3000 L within 36 hours. Bags 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 were acidified with CO2-saturated seawater to adjust seawater to 1000 matm CO2 as a high CO2 treatment (HC) corresponding to the year 2100 under a high Greenhouse Gas emissions scenario. Bags 2, 4, 6, and 8 were controls (ambient CO2, AC). AC and HC bags were aerated with ambient air of ∼410 ppmv CO2 and premixed air-CO2 of 1000 ppmv CO2 (5L min−1), respectively. Three plastic bottles per mesocosm bag were attache...,