Resources

1. Derraik, J. G. B. The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: A review. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 44, 842–852 (2002).

2. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci. Adv. 3, 25–29 (2017).

Andrady, A. L. Microplastics in the marine environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 1596–1605 (2011).

1. Hidalgo-Ruz, V., Gutow, L., Thompson, R. C. & Thiel, M. Microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the methods used for identification and quantification. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 3060–3075 (2012).

2. Kovač Viršek, M. et al. Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis. J. Vis. Exp. 1–9 (2016).

3. Parada, Alma. E. , Needham, David. M. , & Fuhrman, Jed. A. Every base matters: Assessing small subunit rrna primers for marine microbiomes with mock communities, time series and global field samples. Environmental Microbiology, 18(5), 1403–1414 (2016).

1. Kooi, M., Van Nes, E. H., Scheffer, M. & Koelmans, A. A. Ups and Downs in the Ocean: Effects of Biofouling on Vertical Transport of Microplastics. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 7963–7971 (2017).

2. Van Sebille, E., England, M. H. & Froyland, G. Origin, dynamics and evolution of ocean garbage patches from observed surface drifters. Environ. Res. Lett. 7, (2012).

3. Van Sebille, E. et al. The physical oceanography of the transport of floating marine debris. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, (2020).

1. Amaral-Zettler, L. A., Zettler, E. R. & Mincer, T. J. Ecology of the plastisphere. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 18, 139–151 (2020).

2. Arias-Andres, M., Kettner, M. T., Miki, T. & Grossart, H. P. Microplastics: New substrates for heterotrophic activity contribute to altering organic matter cycles in aquatic ecosystems. Sci. Total Environ. 635, 1152–1159 (2018).

3. Bryant, J. A. et al. Diversity and Activity of Communities Inhabiting Plastic Debris in the North Pacific Gyre. mSystems 1, 1–19 (2016).

4. Carson, H. S., Nerheim, M. S., Carroll, K. A. & Eriksen, M. The plastic-associated microorganisms of the North Pacific Gyre. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 75, 126–132 (2013).

5. Delacuvellerie, A., Cyriaque, V., Gobert, S., Benali, S. & Wattiez, R. The plastisphere in marine ecosystem hosts potential specific microbial degraders including Alcanivorax borkumensis as a key player for the low-density polyethylene degradation. J. Hazard. Mater. 380, 120899 (2019).

6. Dudek, K. L., Cruz, B. N., Polidoro, B. & Neuer, S. Microbial colonization of microplastics in the Caribbean Sea. Limnol. Oceanogr. Lett. 5, 5–17 (2020).

7. Eich, A., Mildenberger, T., Laforsch, C. & Weber, M. Biofilm and diatom succession on polyethylene (PE) and biodegradable plastic bags in two marine habitats: Early signs of degradation in the pelagic and benthic zone? PLoS One 10, (2015).

8. Harrison, J. P., Schratzberger, M. S. M. & Osborn, A. M. Interactions between micro-organisms and Marine Microplastics: A Call for Research. Mar. Technol. Soc. J. 45, 12–20 (2011).

9. Harrison, J. P., Schratzberger, M., Sapp, M. & Osborn, A. M. Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms. BMC Microbiol. 14, 1–15 (2014).

10. Kirstein, I. V., Wichels, A., Krohne, G. & Gerdts, G. Mature biofilm communities on synthetic polymers in seawater - Specific or general? Mar. Environ. Res. 142, 147–154 (2018).

11. Lupini, G., Proia, L., Di Maio, M., Amalfitano, S. & Fazi, S. CARD-FISH and confocal laser scanner microscopy to assess successional changes of the bacterial community in freshwater biofilms. J. Microbiol. Methods 86, 248–251 (2011).

12. Masó, M., Fortuno, J. M., De Juan, S. & Demestre, M. Microfouling communities from pelagic and benthic marine plastic debris sampled across Mediterranean coastal waters. Sci. Mar. 80, 117–127 (2016).

13. Oberbeckmann, S., Loeder, M. G. J., Gerdts, G. & Osborn, M. A. Spatial and seasonal variation in diversity and structure of microbial biofilms on marine plastics in Northern European waters. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 90, 478–492 (2014).

14. Reisser, J. et al. Millimeter-sized marine plastics: A new pelagic habitat for microorganisms and invertebrates. PLoS One 9, 1–11 (2014).

15. Xu, X. et al. Marine microplastic-associated bacterial community succession in response to geography, exposure time, and plastic type in China’s coastal seawaters. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 145, 278–286 (2019).

16. Zettler, E. R., Mincer, T. J. & Amaral-Zettler, L. A. Life in the ‘plastisphere’: Microbial communities on plastic marine debris. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47, 7137–7146 (2013).