PLASTISPHERE

Plastic pollution has become an integral part of our environment. Large quantities of plastic litter find their way to the sea where they are gradually broken down into billions of persistent microplastic particles that circulate in the oceans. These particles serve as a new ecological niche for a diverse array of microorganisms termed “plastisphere”. Up to date, little is known about the species composition of the plastisphere and its dynamics. In the proposed study we will seek to understand biodiversity of the marine microplastic biota and characterize its spatial and temporal dynamics. We aim to characterize the plastisphere of pelagic and benthic marine microplastic in different seasons and on different plastic polymers in two separated marine environments; along the Israeli coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and along the Portuguese coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The marine microplastic will be collected and separated in parallel in Israel and Portugal using similar techniques and will be further processed according to the specific expertise of each of the two teams. For the analysis of the microplastic and its plastisphere, we are suggesting an interdisciplinary approach that will combine physical analysis of the plastic polymer type and characteristics, carried out by the Portuguese team and a comprehensive metabarcoding and analysis of species composition and abundance of the plastisphere, carried out by the Israeli team. To achieve these goals we will use the most updated techniques for microplastic characterization including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy along with advanced molecular biology techniques for barcoding and high-throughput sequencing including MinION nanopore third generation sequencing. These techniques will be used in combination with well established methods for marine microplastic collection, separation and identification, and extraction and processing of DNA.
We expect that this exploratory project will reveal important data about the nature and composition of the plastisphere, which in turn will provide a solid background for future research and will contribute for the establishment of new working protocols in the field of marine microplastic. The outcome of this project will also increase our understanding of how plastic pollution effects our environment, may indicate potential hazards and help policy makers to make knowledgeable decisions about plastic litter management. We see this research project as a great opportunity to explore this rapidly growing research field while having the benefit of comparing two different marine environments and utilizing the complementary capabilities of the two research teams.