Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42240377›Full record

ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2026

Bacterial community colonization with minimal alteration of plastics in suboxic sediments from a marine methane seep.

Timnit Kefela, Dong Li, Laurie C Van De Werfhorst, Rebecca M Reynolds, Rachel Behrens, Yuki Floyd, Jennifer L Brown, Jen Smith, Michelle A O'Malley, Patricia A Holden

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Timnit KefelaBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7555-5356
Dong LiBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9990-7742
Laurie C Van De WerfhorstBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5150-4020
Rebecca M ReynoldsBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4978-821X
Rachel BehrensMaterials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-3496-782X
Yuki FloydBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7732-2428
Jennifer L BrownDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4638-7859
Jen SmithCalifornia NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Michelle A O'MalleyDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6065-8491
Patricia A HoldenBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6777-5359

Funding

Mitsubishi Center for Advanced Materials
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although marine plastics fragment and sink into suboxic seafloor sediments, little is known regarding microbiological and material outcomes. Here, open glass microcosms containing hydrocarbon-venting marine sediments were amended with either polymer film (three types of ethylene vinyl alcohol or EVOH, a polyethylene terephthalate or PET, and cellulose acetate or CA) or glass control substrates, submerged in a natural seawater flow-through tank, and sampled immediately after deployment (T0) and at approximately 0.5, 1, 3, and 6 months of incubation (T1-T4). Recovered polymer substrates were analyzed for chemical composition, surface morphology, hydrophobicity, crystallinity, and glass transition, melting, and crystallization temperatures. All substrates were colonized, as per extractable DNA. By sequencing genes encoding 16S rRNA, substrate bacterial communities differed substantially from those in seawater and sediments, even at T0, and changed over time, particularly from T3 to T4 (ANOSIM test, all

Indexed as

BacteriaGeologic SedimentsMicrobiotaPlasticsSeawaterBiodegradation, EnvironmentalMethaneRNA, Ribosomal, 16SMethanePlasticsRNA, Ribosomal, 16S16S rRNA gene sequencingbacterial communityCAcellulose acetateEVOHPETsulfate-reducing bacteria

Identifiers

PMID42240377
PMCPMC13390349

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.