Environmental DNA from plastic and textile marine litter detects exotic and nuisance species nearby ports

Abstract

Marine debris is currently a significant source of environmental and economic problems. Floating litter can be employed by marine organisms as a surface to attach to and use as spreading vector. Human activities are promoting the expansion of potentially harmful species into novel ecosystems, endangering autochthonous communities. In this project, more than 1,000 litter items were collected and classified from five beaches eastwards the port of Gijon, in Asturias, Spain. Next generation sequencing was employed to study biofouling communities attached to items of different materials. A dominance of DNA from Florideophyceae, Dinophyceae and Arthropoda was found, and four non-indigenous species (NIS) were identified. Results showed a clear preference of Florideophyceae and Bryozoa to attach on textile surfaces versus plastic ones. Considering that these taxa contain several highly invasive species described to date, these data emphasize the potential of textile marine debris as a vector for dispersal of NIS. Moreover, the closest beaches to the port contained a more similar biota profile than the farther ones, confirming that both plastic and textile marine litter can be vectors for species dispersal from ports.

eDNA metabarcoding of small plankton samples to detect fish larvae and their preys from Atlantic and Pacific waters

“…Although typically considered a good barcode for animals 28 , 29 , 68 , COI has sufficient phylogenetic definition at species level in red algae and phytoplankton. This has been also found in other studies on locations near the coast, including the Baltic Sea 15 , Bay of Biscay ports 16 , species attached to beached litter 69 , and in ballast water 35 , 70 .…”

High-resolution screening for marine prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa with selective preference for PE and PET surfaces

“…Moreover, our differential abundance analysis identified bacteria taxa that are considered to be hydrocarbon and plasticdegrading including genera Muricauda 42 , Winogradskyella 47 and Alcanivorax 49 . The same analysis for the 18S sequences identified five taxa that were differentially abundant on PE and PET compared with glass including two species of brown algae, Scytosiphon lomentaria and Petalonia fascia which was previously identified in the plastic microbiome 63 . The dinoflagellate P. emarginatum and the red algae Hydrolithon sp., that had significantly different read ratios on PE, have also been reported to dominate plastisphere communities 10 .…”

High-Resolution Screening for Marine Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes With Selective Preference for Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate Surfaces

“…The same analysis for the 18S rRNA gene sequences identified five eukaryotes that were differentially abundant on PE and PET compared with glass including two species of brown algae, Scytosiphon lomentaria and Petalonia fascia which were previously identified in the plastic microbiome ( Ibabe et al, 2020 ). The dinoflagellate P. emarginatum and the red algae Hydrolithon sp ., that had significantly different read ratios on PE, have also been reported to dominate plastisphere communities ( Dudek et al, 2020 ).…”