Hydrolyzable microplastics in soil—low biodegradation but formation of a specific microbial habitat?

Microplastics (MP, plastic particles between 0.1 and 5000 μm) contaminate agricultural soils through the application of organic fertilizers, sewage sludge, and plastic mulch. MP surfaces and the MP-soil interface provide specific habitats for soil microorganisms—the plastisphere. Microorganisms in the plastisphere may benefit from utilizing MP as a carbon (C) source. Hydrolyzable MP with ester bonds are susceptible to enzymatic depolymerization by hydrolysis. In a microcosm experiment, we investigated MP biodegradation of small and large (< 0.5 mm and 0.5–2 mm respectively), hydrolyzable (a poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene co-adipate terephthalate) blend, PLA/PBAT) and non-hydrolyzable (low-density polyethylene, LDPE) polymers, and the effects of these MP on microorganisms in dry and wet MP-amended soil. MP affected neither abundance and composition of the main soil microbial groups (fungi, Gram-negative, and Gram-positive bacteria), specific activities of ß-glucosidase, ß-xylosidase, lipase, and phenoloxidase, nor respiration in MP-amended soil. Only large PLA/PBAT particles in dry soil were significantly mineralized (15.4% of initial PLA/PBAT-C after 230 days). PLA/PBAT mineralization coincided with enhanced lipase and ß-glucosidase activities on the surfaces of individual PLA/PBAT particles extracted from the soil after incubation (compared to LDPE and non-incubated PLA/PBAT particles). We detected cracks on the surfaces of PLA/PBAT particles using scanning electron microscopy, indicating initiation of MP biodegradation, presumably due to depolymerization by lipases. Results suggest that the PLA/PBAT plastisphere is a polymer-specific habitat for lipase-producing soil microorganisms. Our study demonstrates that analyzing biogeochemical interactions within polymer-specific plastispheres is essential to assess MP fate and their impacts on microbially driven soil processes.