Despite global efforts, single-use plastics are ubiquitous in our daily life resulting in nano-sized plastic debris in environmental systems. The nanoplastics–biofilms interactions can provide insight into nanoparticles toxicity and the fate and impact of plastics within ecosystems. Using qPCR and fluorescence microscopy methods, we characterized the diffusion of carboxylated and aminated polystyrene nanoparticles in biofilms and their influence in the expression of key Pseudomonas aeruginosa genes. Targeted genes were under related to extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production and quorum sensing as a function of nanoplastics charge and biofilm age. In the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, nanoplastics with favorable electrostatic interactions with bacterial cell walls increase the expression of the rpsL gene and have lower diffusion coefficients in younger biofilms. In more developed biofilms, positively and negatively charged particles diffuse similarly but have different effects on gene expression. Cellular responses induced by nanoplastics can cause changes in the EPS matrix composition.

Polystyrene nanoparticle diffusion in biofilms and their influence on gene expression as a function of particle charge and biofilm age

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.