Hunting for pigments in bacterial settlers of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Author:

Scales Brittan S.1ORCID,Hassenrück Christiane1ORCID,Moldaenke Lynn12ORCID,Hassa Julia2ORCID,Rückert‐Reed Christian2ORCID,Rummel Christoph3,Völkner Corinna4ORCID,Rynek Robby3ORCID,Busche Tobias2ORCID,Kalinowski Jörn2ORCID,Jahnke Annika35ORCID,Schmitt‐Jansen Mechthild3,Wendt‐Potthoff Katrin4ORCID,Oberbeckmann Sonja16ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biological Oceanography Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde Rostock Germany

2. Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) Universität Bielefeld Bielefeld Germany

3. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ Leipzig Germany

4. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ Magdeburg Germany

5. Institute for Environmental Research RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

6. Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) Berlin Germany

Abstract

AbstractThe Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a significant collection of plastic introduced by human activities, provides an ideal environment to study bacterial lifestyles on plastic substrates. We proposed that bacteria colonizing the floating plastic debris would develop strategies to deal with the ultraviolet‐exposed substrate, such as the production of antioxidant pigments. We observed a variety of pigmentation in 67 strains that were directly cultivated from plastic pieces sampled from the Garbage Patch. The genomic analysis of four representative strains, each distinct in taxonomy, revealed multiple pathways for carotenoid production. These pathways include those that produce less common carotenoids and a cluster of photosynthetic genes. This cluster appears to originate from a potentially new species of the Rhodobacteraceae family. This represents the first report of an aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacterium from plastic biofilms. Spectral analysis showed that the bacteria actively produce carotenoids, such as beta‐carotene and beta‐cryptoxanthin, and bacteriochlorophyll a. Furthermore, we discovered that the genetic ability to synthesize carotenoids is more common in plastic biofilms than in the surrounding water communities. Our findings suggest that plastic biofilms could be an overlooked source of bacteria‐produced carotenoids, including rare forms. It also suggests that photoreactive molecules might play a crucial role in bacterial biofilm communities in surface water.

Funder

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Publisher

Wiley

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