{"id":22054,"date":"2021-03-24T17:06:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/?p=13238"},"modified":"2024-05-21T15:53:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T19:53:57","slug":"leaching-plastic-and-the-lungs-of-the-planet-the-impact-of-pollution-on-prochlorococcus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/leaching-plastic-and-the-lungs-of-the-planet-the-impact-of-pollution-on-prochlorococcus\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaching Plastic and the Lungs of the Planet: The Impact of Pollution on Prochlorococcus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The smallest known photosynthetic organism accounts for 20% of the oxygen in our biosphere \u2014 but are plastic pollutants hindering this cyanobacterium\u2019s ability to breathe for our planet?<\/h2>\n
\"Chisholm's
Chisholm’s lab primarily studies Prochlorococcus, a marine cyanobacteria responsible for 20% of our planet’s oxygen production. Image courtesy of Luke Thompson from Chisholm Lab and Nikki Watson from Whitehead, MIT, under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMicro-Lungs\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Our oceans produce 50% to 80% of the Earth\u2019s oxygen \u2014 generating even more O2 than our rainforests, according to NOAA. Through photosynthesis, in fact, one kind of oceanic cyanobacteria, Prochlorococcus<\/em>, produces as much as 20% of our biosphere\u2019s oxygen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always felt that photosynthesis is the most important process on Earth and is totally underappreciated,\u201d says Penny Chisholm, a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. \u201cIn some areas of the oceans, Prochlorococcus<\/em> does half the photosynthesis \u2014 feeding the food web.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, as a phototroph \u2014 an organism that creates nutrients for itself from light \u2014 Prochlorococcus <\/em>is at the base of many food webs in marine ecosystems. It\u2019s the smallest known photosynthetic organism on the planet and so abundant that a single cup of ocean water can contain 100 million of these microbes.<\/p>\n

After Chisholm became one of the first researchers to work with Prochlorococcus<\/em>, she\u00a0quickly fell in love with the microbe. She decided to spend her career studying the cyanobacteria, as well as writing children\u2019s books about the vital processes of these \u201cmicro-lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Chisholm isn\u2019t the only marine scientist with an eye on these incredible oxygen producers \u2014 especially with ocean pollution on the rise.<\/p>\n

Leaching Into our Oceans<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By 2015, an estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic had accumulated in the ocean, according to research<\/a> from The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ, which also projected that number will hit 600 million metric tons by 2040.<\/p>\n

With annual plastic dumping in oceans continuing to climb, scientists like Sasha G. Tetu are eager to understand how plastic leachates \u2014 the parts of plastic and chemicals used to make plastic that leach into the water \u2014 may affect Prochlorococcus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tetu, a molecular biologist at Macquarie University in Australia, headed research that investigated changes in Prochlorococcus<\/em> population, physiology, and genetics from exposure to plastic leachates.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to look at this data all together is what allowed us to put together a convincing story regarding how plastic leachates affect these organisms,\u201d she says. \u201cMy hope is that our work will help promote the message that many microorganisms play key roles in ecosystem processes and that they need to be considered to understand the full extent to which environmental challenges, such as plastic pollution, may affect our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tetu says there are two ecotypes of Prochlorococcus<\/em>: \u201chigh-light adapted\u201d and \u201clow-light adapted.\u201d High-light adapted reside toward the surface of ocean waters while low-light adapted Prochlorococcus<\/em> live in deeper ocean zones. Tetu and her team selected the strains used for the experiment from each of these ecotypes.<\/p>\n

Lisa Moore, a microbial ecologist and Prochlorococcus<\/em> expert at the University of Southern Maine, helped to provide those strains. Moore says Prochlorococcus<\/em> is quite sensitive to changing conditions, more so than other phototrophs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot of time and effort, generally months, before they can be reliably maintained in a culture,\u201d Moore explains. \u201cThey also are more challenging to transport around the world, as they often don\u2019t survive the changing conditions that inevitably occur during transport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Plastics
Plastics that find their way into the ocean experience leaching, a dissolving of the material’s components, including chemicals that are harmful to the environment. Image courtesy of the NOAA Marine Debris Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their study looked at how the two Prochlorococcus<\/em> strains reacted in controlled environments to different plastic leachates common in plastic bags and PVC matting. The scientists exposed the strains to varying concentrations of the leachate and observed growth, photosynthetic output, and genetic changes.<\/p>\n

Tetu\u2019s team determined plastic leachates negatively affected both strains, causing lower growth rates, lower photosynthetic output, and major genetic changes. The plastic leachate from PVC matting had a greater effect than the plastic leachate common in plastic bags. In addition, Tetu\u2019s team found that each ecotype was affected differently by plastic leachate exposure. The high light-adapted strain responded faster to the plastic leachates than the low-light adapted strain.<\/p>\n

Because photosynthesis generates oxygen, these results suggest that plastic in our oceans decreases oxygen production.<\/p>\n

Future Directions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prochlorococcus<\/em> survive by creating symbiotic relationships with heterotrophic bacteria \u2014 organisms that can\u2019t make their own nutrients. Though researchers are still uncovering how these relationships work to impact the marine ecosystem, they posit changes to Prochlorococcus<\/em> caused by plastic pollution could affect these relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving different responses to an anthropogenic [human-made] pollutant, such as the chemical substances that can leach from plastic debris in the oceans, could cause changes in the kinds of Prochlorococcus<\/em>,\u201d says Moore, \u201cand possibly other phototrophs that might be present in some marine waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chisholm says the relationship of Prochlorococcus<\/em> to other organisms warrants more study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have just begun to study their relationships with the heterotrophic bacteria that they coexist with,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is a lot of give and take. It\u2019s a really exciting area in microbial oceanography.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Moore, Tetu and her team next will look at plastic leachates in a natural environment. Doing so will enable the researchers to learn more about how other organisms react to the changes affecting Prochlorococcus<\/em>, in turn helping the team to understand how decreased oxygen production caused by exposure to plastic leachates could affect a whole ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Chisholm says we don\u2019t yet have enough data to understand fully how pollution will affect Prochlorococcus<\/em>, but, she adds, studies like Tetu\u2019s bring us one step closer.<\/p>\n

More<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sasha G. Tetu\u2019s full study, \u201cPlastic leachates impair growth and oxygen production in Prochlorococcus, the ocean\u2019s most abundant photosynthetic bacteria\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic, Plastic Everywhere,\u201d<\/a> by Julie Leibach for Coastwatch<\/em><\/p>\n

New work from North Carolina Sea Grant on plastic pollution: \u201cResearch to Identify How Plastic Litter Reaches Pamlico Sound\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Allison Fisk<\/strong> is earning her master\u2019s degree at NC State University in Technical Communication. She is also a science communicator with North Carolina Sea Grant.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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