Plastisphere in freshwater ecosystems
Compostable plastic products, MaterBi shopper bags and Polylactic acid dishes (PLA-d), along with their additive-free polymer matrices, Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and PLA-r, as well as the biopolymer Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) were immersed in lake water for 210 days in a field experiment. Polypropylene (PP) was used as petroleum-based plastic control and wood (C) as natural surface control. Samples were collected at day 7, 30, 60 ,90, 120, 150, 180 and 210 for 16S rRNA gene sequencing to assess shifts in the plastisphere bacterial community composition over the immersion period.