Plastics become rapidly colonized by microbes when released into marine environments.
This microbial community—the Plastisphere—has recently sparked a multitude of scientific …

Despite growing plastic discharge into the environment, researchers have struggled to detect
expected increases of marine plastic debris in sea surfaces, sparking discussions about “…

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most recalcitrant carbon-based synthetic materials produced
and, currently, the most ubiquitous plastic pollutant found in nature. Over time, combined …

Pristine marine environments are highly oligotrophic ecosystems populated by well‐established
specialized microbial communities. Nevertheless, during oil spills, low‐abundant …

Background The widespread nature of plastic pollution has given rise to wide scientific and
social concern regarding the capacity of these materials to serve as vectors for pathogenic …

Alcanivorax is an important member of the hydrocarbonoclastic group known for using
alkanes and other related compound as their preferred carbon source. Here we report the …

How oligotrophic marine cyanobacteria position themselves in the water column is currently
unknown. The current paradigm is that these organisms avoid sinking due to their reduced …

Plastic pollution is a critical environmental issue with far-reaching and not yet fully explored
consequences. This study uncovered a significant source of plastic contamination arising …

The microbial colonisers of plastics–the ‘plastisphere’–can affect all interactions that plastics
have with their surrounding environments. While only specifically characterised within the …

The geological, hydrological and microbiological features of the Salar de Atacama, the most
extensive evaporitic sedimentary basin in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, have been …