Research

 

Minerals in the Plastisphere: influence on biological interactions and plastic degradation

The Plastisphere hosts a complex biofilm constructed of bacteria, fungi, organic debris, minerals, metals, and salts that influences the transport of plastic particles, and harbors colonizers and plastic-degrading microorganisms. This study will explore the role of the Plastisphere minerals and metals to track plastic influence on biological processes and to probe pathways of plastic stability or degradation in the coastal marine environment. Read more on this here: Carlsberg Foundation

This project will start May 2023 and is funded by Carlsberg Foundation´s Semper Ardens: Accelerate.

Gene transfer in the Plastisphere

The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARg) is a worldwide health risk. Vast reservoirs of ARg are found in environments like soils, sediments and oceans, and are propagated surprisingly quickly – at a rate enhanced by concurrent presence of heavy metals. ARg are efficiently distributed between bacteria through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), where one species acquires resistance through gene transfer from other resistant bacteria. ARg-HGT is understood to occur through direct microbe-microbe contact. ARg acquisition through extracellular DNA shed to the environment is not traditionally considered effective due to fast DNA degradation in the environment. Recent findings, however, suggest that DNA adsorption to minerals can preserve DNA up to million years timescales. Our recent work on the biogeochemical processes associated with plastic debris in coastal Scandinavia, Vietnam, and Tanzania shows rapid Plastisphere formation composed of microbes, but also organic matter, metals, minerals and salts reflective of the host environment. Here, we explore the potential role of the plastic-mineral-microbe interface as a hotspot of ARg-HGT with a combined field (Kalø Vig, Denmark) and laboratory approach. Our collaborators on this project are Karina Sand and Saghar Hendiani (UCPH-Globe Institute), and Katrine Juul Andresen (Geoscience, Aarhus University). For more details

This active project is funded by Geocenter Danmark. 

Cycling in the Plastisphere: the biogeochemical fate of marine (micro)plastics

Marine plastic pollution is a new global challenge influencing environmental health, the maritime economy and carbon cycling. Biofilm found on marine plastic implies that a new ecological niche has formed, referred to as the Plastisphere. In this project, we study biogeochemical cycling associated with this marine plastic debris. Our focus is to understand the microbe-plastic interface to expand our knowledge about how marine plastic and microorganisms interact over spatial and temporal scales in marine waters and sediment.

Together with our collaborators at Aarhus University, Stockholm University, UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, and the Mads Clausen Institute – SDU –  NanoSyd, we explore how microbes degrade, transport and incorporate (micro)plastic into biogeochemical cycles via microbial community studies, biofilm imaging, and element analysis.

This active project is funded by the VILLUM FONDEN Young Investigator Programme.

Cleaning waste with waste: using bio-based industrial sidestreams to remove micro- and nanoplastic from water bodies

Micro- and nanoplastic are one of the emerging pollutants in water bodies with potential consequences for environment and organismal health. Current water treatment plants are not always effective in removing the small plastic particles and there has been minimum effort in developing in situ remediation. This project will develop an unconventional way of removing micro- and nanoplastic from water using bio-based industrial sidestreams. We hypothesized that intermolecular interaction between the small plastic particles and the bio-based waste materials can be utilized for remediation purpose.

This active project is funded by the VILLUM FONDEN’s VILLUM Experiment to Demi T. Djajadi.

MAriNe microplastic: Biota driven Transport and community Level Effects (MANTLE)

Protection goals for environmental risk assessment and management focus on the population, community and ecosystem level. Knowledge of the effects of microplastics (MPs) at these levels of biological organization, particularly under environmentally realistic settings, remains limited.  This project assesses how key biological processes influence the distribution and effects of different types of MPs in marine ecosystems. Specific team objectives focus on: weathering and biofilm formation on plastics, the effects of microplastic on plankton and benthos communities under environmentally realistic scenarios, the role of zooplankton faecal pellets in the vertical flux of microplastics (bentho-pelagic coupling), the uptake of different MP types in both natural plankton communities and key benthic species, the distribution of different MP types among environmental compartments (water, sediment and biota), and integration of these measures in a MP mass balance for a whole system. Experiments will be carried out at the Umeå Marine Research Center´s Mesocosm facility by a consortia of researchers from: Roskilde University, DTU Aqua, DTU Environment, UCPH-IGN, the National Museum of Denmark, Aalborg University, and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

This active project is funded by EU H2020-INFRIA-AQUACOSM-plus (Project No 871081) to consortia PI Annemette Palmqvist (RUC).

Plastics from source to sink: Exploring transport pathways and fate of plastic waste in coastal waters (TRACE)

The environmental fate of plastic in the marine environment remains unresolved. In particular, the connection between the political and socio-economic circumstances resulting in the release of plastic into the environment and the transport of the plastic to temporary and long-term sinks remain undefined.
In this project, we focus on the estuarine and coastal environment of Tanzania to trace the pathway of plastic from source to sink considering socio-economic and political drivers, transport and degradation dynamics, and the development of cost-effective methods for the quantification of plastics in hotspot areas.

This active project is funded by Geocenter Danmark. 

An anthropogenic archive of plastic pollution in Greenland (RECORD)

Plastic has become a common feature in the world’s ocean that many studies indicate there is no pristine marine realm left. Since the 1950s, the production, variety, usage and disposal of plastics have increased enormously. From an estimated 8 MT of plastic that enter the ocean every year, global surveys show 99% remain unaccounted for.  A portion of the missing plastic is in the form of microplastics, which may be entrapped by natural processes, i.e., sediment deposition, mineral and biological aggregation. Associations with microorganisms could provide a better understanding on the environmental fate of microplastics and their pathways to burial.
This project is divided in 1) Generate a record of microplastics in Greenland as an indication of the Anthropocene footprint in the Arctic by comparing a pre- and post-plastic boom period in deep-sea sediments and glacial ice, and 2) The biogeochemical analyses of the cores to explore the degradation or preservation of plastics at the sink.

This active project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801199 (EU-TALENT).

Plastic Debris Hotspots: societal and physical drivers of massive plastic pollution (PlasticHotspot)

Plastic waste in the environment is a global problem, with certain regions contributing strongly to total plastic pollution. Vietnam, along with China, Indonesia and the Philippines, belong to five focus countries for action to combat plastic pollution (Ocean Conservancy & McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, 2015). In this light, the coastal environment of Vietnam represents a global hotspot of marine plastic debris. What physical and biogeochemical features, along with the socio-political tapestry, contribute to this massive plastic pollution? Can best practice approaches be developed to reduce and remediate plastic impact on the environment and society?

Together with collaborators at IGN-University of Copenhagen, GEUS-Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and the Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam Academy  of Science & Technology, we are studying how political, social and (biogeo)physical circumstances combine to result in, and potentially combat, extreme plastic pollution in hotspot areas.

This active project is funded by Geocenter Danmark. 

This work was carried out at NordCEE-SDU and was funded in part by a DFG Postdoctoral Fellowship [PO-1624/1-1] and a Marie-Curie Individual grant – BioCTrack [330064].