The aquatic plastisphere: ecology, pathogen dissemination and antimicrobial resistance

Abstract

The escalating volume of plastic debris in the aquatic environment has created a novel ecological niche for microorganisms. This habitat, known as the plastisphere, hosts ecologically diverse microbial communities, yet its degree of divergence in composition and function from natural substrates remains a key topic of debate. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the aquatic plastisphere, highlighting its community composition, assembly dynamics and key functional traits, such as degradation pathways and nutrient cycling. We explore how this novel environment acts as a critical hub for the persistence and dissemination of human pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. We discuss how dynamic environmental factors, together with complex inter-kingdom metabolic interactions, can reshape community composition, accelerate the evolution of resistant pathotypes and influence pathogen virulence. We conclude by emphasizing that climate-induced changes in temperature, ultraviolet light radiation, salinity and hydrodynamic patterns are likely to further influence the microbial composition and phenotypic expression of pathogens within the aquatic plastisphere. Finally, we underscore the need for a One Health approach to study the plastisphere and advocate moving the field from descriptive ecology towards a mechanistic, policy-relevant framework to address the growing public health threat amid accelerating plastic pollution and climate-driven shifts.