“Amaral-Zettler and Mincer also found genetic and microscope evidence of eukaryotes on the plastic. What she calls the “plastisphere” might contain complex living communities. “It may be a little world that we’ve created, for better or worse.”
“The Wood’s Hole scientists aim to sample more ocean plastic and to isolate, culture and identify the microbes found on it. Then they can determine if and how they’re digesting the plastic and discover what the by-products are.”
I can’t say how much this excites me. My dive into practical microbiology started with exploration of plastic-digesting bacteria and then grew from there.
There is no end to the amazing things bacteria do. And we shouldn’t be surprised at the ability of bacteria to find a useful carbon source or electron acceptor or what. Bacteria have the numbers in their favor – large populations and quick generation times mean that bacteria can sample and evolve into “adjacent possibles”.
Fascinating creatures!
Bookmarked in Delicious.
