Cold-water gut isolate from threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) reveals polypropylene surface oxidation and co-culture inhibition
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP), two of the most widely produced plastics in the United States, persist in cold-water environments where plastic-degrading microbes have been poorly characterized. Understanding how gut microbes interact and contribute to plastic degradation is essential for developing potential microbiome-based bioremediation strategies. We isolated 184 microbes from wild Alaskan threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) guts across six lakes and screened for plastic degrading potential using lipase/esterase assays and biofilm formation on PET and PP. During the screen for microbes with plastic degrading potential, we discovered that stickleback gut microbiota members enhance and suppressed the lipase, esterase, and biofilm activity of other microbes. Isolates with the highest plastic degrading potential were incubated in minimal media with PET or PP as the sole carbon source to determine whether plastic degradation potential is enhanced. Surface analysis identified a Pseudomonas trivialis strain that exhibited degradation of PP in monoculture; however, this activity was suppressed in the presence of another gut isolate, Pseudomonas germanica. These results demonstrate that microbes associated with the wild threespine stickleback gut microbiome possess plastic degradation potential and provide insights into how microbial interactions can either promote or inhibit bioremediation of plastic pollution in cold-water environments.