Plastic waste in the ocean has been known to harm #marinelife and other animals when they wash up on our shores. #NTUsg scientists have now discovered that these pieces of #plasticwaste could also contain thriving colonies of harmful bacteria.
These #ecological communities of bacteria and microbes living on plastic debris are called 'plastisphere'. #DNA sequencing of the plastisphere has found microorganisms that cause seagrass to die off in mass numbers and poison marine life.
However, potential plastic-eating bacteria were also uncovered, which brings hope that they can be used to speed up plastic degradation in the future.