How will marine plastic pollution affect bacterial primary producers?

Sasha G. Tetu*, Indrani Sarker, Lisa R. Moore

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalComment/opinionpeer-review

    20 Citations (Scopus)
    88 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    We demonstrated in our recent Communications Biology paper how marine photosynthetic bacteria, Prochlorococcus, are adversely affected by leachates from commonly used plastics. This study was one of the first to consider how substances leaching from plastics may affect marine primary producers and demonstrated that plastic pollution has the potential to negatively impact a wider range of organisms than previously appreciated. We outline here key outstanding questions regarding how ocean plastic pollution may impact small, but essential, marine microbes and discuss how these can be addressed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number55
    Number of pages4
    Journal Communications Biology
    Volume3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2020

    Bibliographical note

    Copyright the Author(s) 2020. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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