Mapping the Diversity of Beach Fungal Plastisphere: Insights from Metagenomic Approaches

Exploration of fungal communities within the plastisphere reveals a complex interaction between microbial life and plastic pollution. This study investigates the prevalence and distribution of fungal plastisphere from the beach. Plastic samples were obtained at Marunda beach-Jakarta, Cipta beach-Semarang, and Baros beach-Yogyakarta, Java Island, Indonesia. Three type of plastic were high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP), which were subjected to scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analyzes to determine their surface topography, chemical composition, and adherent biofilms. Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA genes were used in fungal metagenome study. The existence of topographical structures and degrading effects, which promote microbial attachment on the plastic surface, as well as Na, Mg, Cl, Si, Al, S, Ca, Mn, and K element were discovered by SEM-EDX analysis. The results showed the presence and diversity of fungi in plastispheres found on the beach of Java, Indonesia. LDPE is especially suitable for plastisphere than HDPE, and PP. The observed species fungal plastisphere from Baros beach is higher than from Marunda and Cipta beaches. Ascomycota and Saccharomyces were dominant at the phylum and genus taxa, respectively. Moreover, these research results provide for fungal plastisphere ecological importance and also their potential role in bioremediation efforts aimed at addressing the global plastic waste challenge. HIGHLIGHTS The existence of topographical structures and degrading effects, which promote microbial attachment on the plastic surface from the beach. The elemental composition of plastisphere from beach consists of C, O, Na, Mg, Cl, Si, Al, S, Ca, Mn, and K. The observed species of fungal plastisphere from Baros beach is higher than from Marunda and Cipta beaches. Ascomycota was the dominant phylum of fungal plastisphere in all samples. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT