{
  "abstract": "Polyethylene (PE) is a persistent environmental pollutant, yet how prolonged PE exposure restructures plastisphere communities and relates to surface-associated microbial transformation remains insufficiently understood. Here, gut-derived microbial communities from superworm larvae (Zophobas morio) were subjected to six months of enrichment on PE films under PE-only, carbon-limited conditions to examine plastisphere succession, predicted functional shifts, culture-based recovery of PE-associated bacteria, and co-culture effects on PE surface modification. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed stage-associated community restructuring, including an increase in Shannon diversity from 3.89 to 4.88, a shift from early Bacteroidota dominance (88.0% at month 1) to late Actinomycetota enrichment (0.7 to 42.0% by month 6), and persistent representation of Pseudomonadota. PICRUSt2 with MetaCyc profiling further indicated stage-associated functional shifts during prolonged PE exposure. After 180 days, enriched PE films showed dense biofilm formation, visible surface damage, oxidation-associated FT-IR bands, and increased carbonyl and hydroxyl indices relative to the blank and abiotic control, indicating measurable oxidation-associated surface transformation during enrichment. Stepwise DCPIP and gravimetric screening enabled recovery of five PE-associated strains. In co-culture evaluation, selected combinations, particularly Ko + As and treatments involving three or more strains, showed more sustained biomass persistence together with denser surface colonization, stronger oxidation-associated FT-IR signals, and higher CI and HI values than single-strain treatments. Overall, these results indicate that prolonged PE exposure drives stage-associated plastisphere restructuring and measurable PE surface oxidation, while succession-informed enrichment improves the recovery and evaluation of PE-associated culturable consortia.\n\nKey points: Prolonged PE enrichment was associated with plastisphere succession and predicted functional shifts\n\nStepwise screening enabled isolation of five culturable PE-degrading strains\n\nCo-cultures enhanced PE colonization and oxidation-associated modification\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-026-13986-9.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biotechnology, Division of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, 02841 Korea",
    "Department of Marine Science, College of Natural Sciences, Incheon National University, Incheon, 22012 Korea"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jangyeon Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Inseo Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Doyoon Shin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Soyun Choi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Eunkyung Choi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jae-Sung Rhee"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hyun Park"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3zz1kt0bnav6d.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s00253-026-13986-9",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13731622/",
  "id": "3zz1kt0bnav6d",
  "issns": [
    "0175-7598",
    "1432-0614"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-026-13986-9",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2310|Microplastics and Plastic Pollution"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7197027754",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13731622",
  "pmid": "42975622",
  "published": "2026-08-06",
  "publisher": "Springer",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3zz1kt0bnav6d.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:21:47Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13731622",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-026-13986-9"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2310|Microplastics and Plastic Pollution",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Succession-informed enrichment of plastisphere communities from superworm larvae enables isolation and co-culture evaluation of polyethylene-associated bacteria",
  "title_text": "Succession-informed enrichment of plastisphere communities from superworm larvae enables isolation and co-culture evaluation of polyethylene-associated bacteria",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:21:47Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3zz1kt0bnav6d",
  "venue": "Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology",
  "versions": []
}