Frontiers in Microbiology最新文献

{"title":"Diversity of estrogen biodegradation pathways and application in environmental bioremediation.","authors":"Jaleela S Hashem, Wael Ismail, Yin-Ru Chiang, Adnan A Bekhit","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1630636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1630636","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Steroid estrogens, including the naturally occurring hormones estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3), as well as the synthetic estrogen ethinylestradiol (EE2), play essential physiological roles in the regulation of the reproductive systems and development of secondary sex characteristics in humans and animals. Environmental pollution with steroid estrogens is gaining rising concerns worldwide due to their endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic properties, which can harm humans and aquatic organisms. Hence, efficient removal of these compounds, particularly from wastewater, is deemed key to prevent environmental pollution with estrogens. Although several physicochemical treatments contribute to estrogen elimination from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), biological treatment via microbial biodegradation remains the most efficient estrogen removal approach. Several estrogen-degrading/transforming bacteria were isolated mainly from activated sludge samples collected from WWTPs. Moreover, biochemical, and molecular aspects for estrogen degradation pathways were revealed recently for estrone and estradiol. On the contrary, less knowledge is currently available for E3 and EE2 biodegradation pathways. Despite high structural similarity among steroid estrogens, they can be degraded via a diversity of biodegradation and biotransformation pathways. Nonetheless, these pathways exhibit common as well as unique biochemical and molecular features. Moreover, steroid estrogens are interconvertible, which can affect their environmental concentrations, and hence, their persistence/biodegradability. In this review, we present and discuss the various steroid estrogen biodegradation and biotransformation pathways, with a focus on the biochemical aspects. Furthermore, we highlight some of the known abiotic estrogen reactions and the recent discoveries on microbial estrogenesis and envisage how they can affect estrogen susceptibility to microbial degradation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1630636"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12507874/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Molecular identification and pathogenic impact of <i>Pythium aphanidermatum</i> on ginger (<i>Zingiber officinale</i>): insights into oxidative stress, antioxidant responses, and mycotoxin profiling.","authors":"Mukesh Meena, Garima Yadav, Priyankaraj Sonigra, Tushar Mehta, Adhishree Nagda, Abhishek Sahoo, Prashant Swapnil","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1626700","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1626700","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Ginger (<i>Zingiber officinale</i>) is an economically significant crop, widely cultivated for its medicinal and culinary applications. However, its production is severely affected by fungal pathogens, particularly <i>Pythium aphanidermatum</i>, which cause substantial yield losses and quality deterioration. This study aimed to identify fungal pathogens associated with ginger rhizome rot through molecular characterization and evaluate their impact on plant physiological and biochemical responses.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fungal isolates were obtained from infected rhizomes and identified through morphological and molecular characterization using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Pathogenicity was evaluated via <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vitro</i> assays, with analyses of oxidative stress and enzymatic activity. Antioxidant and phenolic metabolism enzyme activities were measured, and mycotoxin profiling was conducted using column chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results confirmed the presence of <i>P. aphanidermatum</i>, which induced severe oxidative stress in ginger plants, including increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, lipid peroxidation, and chlorophyll degradation. Antioxidant enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione reductase (GR) were significantly upregulated, along with phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO). Mycotoxin profiling revealed secondary metabolites contributing to fungal pathogenicity. Application of fungal crude extracts (F1-F3), 24 h prior to inoculation, significantly reduced oxidative damage and preserved plant physiological integrity, with F1 showing the most effective mitigation.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates that <i>P. aphanidermatum</i> infection imposes severe oxidative stress and physiological damage in ginger, as evidenced by elevated ROS, malondialdehyde (MDA), and disrupted chlorophyll composition. Pre-application of fungal crude extracts alleviated these effects, highlighting their potential role in plant defense. These findings provide new insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of <i>P. aphanidermatum</i> and the phytotoxicity of its metabolites, laying the foundation for future studies on detailed chemical characterization and field validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1626700"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12507739/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel <i>Pectobacterium brasiliense</i>-infecting phage from Egypt with biocontrol potential against soft rot in vegetables.","authors":"Kamel M Elhalag, Abdelmonim Ali Ahmad, Mohsen Mohamed Elsharkawy, Qi Huang, Mohamed A Nasr-Eldin","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1621267","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1621267","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Pectobacterium brasiliense</i> causes soft rot in many economically important crops, including vegetables and ornamentals, leading to significant yield losses. Traditional antibiotics, bactericides, and antimicrobial agents face limitations such as bioaccumulation on plants and the emergence of microbial resistance. Bacteriophages (phages) offer a promising alternative for effective control of a variety of phytopathogens. In this study, we isolated and characterized a virulent phage as a potential biocontrol agent against <i>P. brasiliense</i>. The phage was designated as PbrM1EGY, as it specifically targets only tested strains of <i>P. brasiliense</i> (Pbr) and is the first <i>Myoviridae</i> phage (M1) isolated from Egypt (EGY). The phage has an icosahedral head measuring 46.3 ± 3.9 nm and a long, contractile tail of 99.9 ± 3.9 nm. Phage PbrM1EGY exhibited relative stability across a wide range of environmental conditions, including pH (3 to 11), temperatures (4-50°C), NaCl concentrations (1-15%), and ultraviolet light exposure (1-15 min). It takes about 50 min for PbrM1EGY to complete its lytic cycle with a latent period of approximately 20 min and an average burst size of 749 ± 40 PFU per infected cell. At MOIs of 0.01, 0.1 and 1, phage PbrM1EGY significantly reduced the <i>in vitro</i> growth of <i>P. brasiliense</i> compared to the bacterial control without phage treatment. When tested <i>in planta</i>, the phage effectively prevented the development of soft rot symptoms in pepper and cucumber fruits, carrot roots, and potato tubers, while significantly reducing tissue maceration in onion bulbs. Our findings suggest that phage PbrM1EGY has great potential as a biocontrol agent against soft rot disease caused by <i>P. brasiliense</i> in vegetable crops, including pepper, cucumber, carrot, onion and potato.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1621267"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12509067/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>: do we know enough about this pathogen?","authors":"Kathrin Rychli, Natalia Wiktorczyk-Kapischke, Krzysztof Skowron","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1698291","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1698291","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1698291"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12507782/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Harnessing microbes for eco-friendly nanoparticle production and sustainable applications.","authors":"Divjot Kour, Amrik Singh Ahluwalia, Ajar Nath Yadav, Abdelhadi Abdallah Abdelhadi","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1687584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1687584","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1687584"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12509688/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rhizosphere microbiomes of field-grown <i>B. stricta</i> exhibit minimal diel changes in microbial membership and protein synthesis potential.","authors":"Alessandra Ceretto, Cynthia Weinig","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1609057","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1609057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rhizosphere microbiome has a significant impact on plant health and fitness. Quantifying bacterial responses to fine-scale plant-mediated changes in the rhizosphere, such as those associated with diel cycling in host plant physiology, will increase our understanding of microbial community assembly patterns. Here, we used 16S rRNA biomarker gene (DNA) and transcript (RNA) sequencing to characterize changes in the rhizosphere community membership and PSP over short timescales in field-grown <i>Boechera stricta</i> (<i>B. stricta</i>) plants. Microbial communities characterized by 16S-rRNA-transcripts, which serve as a proxy for microbial protein synthesis potential (PSP), showed greater sensitivity to fine-scale environmental changes than did communities characterized by 16S-rRNA biomarker gene sequencing, which reflects microbial presence/absence. Significant differences were observed between communities characterized by RNA vs. DNA, with RNA-derived communities showing greater alpha and beta diversity differences between the rhizosphere vs. control soil communities within phyla and in differential abundance analysis of genera. Communities reconstructed from RNA were more sensitive to the effects of field blocks and collection timepoints. Differential abundance analysis revealed significant differences (<i>p</i> < 0.05) between the pre-dawn (AM) and early afternoon (PM) timepoints for five genera based on 16S rRNA transcripts. This included the plant-associated genus Curtobacterium. However, when variance was partitioned between days of collection, the amplitude of the signal between diel timepoints was non-significant. In summary, community composition and protein synthesis potential were highly sensitive to abiotic factors expressed over the small spatial scale of field blocks and short 24-h periods between collection days but showed minimal to no diel patterning.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1609057"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12507849/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban wastewater overflows as hotspots for dissemination of bacteria producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases and carbapenemases in the Suquía River, Argentina.","authors":"Susana Eugenia Ruiz, Fabrizzio Nicolas Morandini, María Emilia Panzetta, Flavio Gabriel Lipari, María Gabriela Irrazábal, Ricardo Toselli, Martín Der Ohannesian, Cristian Amieva, María Eugenia Valdes, Federico Javier Giraudo, María Del Rosario Rollán, Valeria Amé, Claudia Sola, Héctor Alex Saka","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1669531","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1669531","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global challenge, yet the role of environmental dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria remains underexplored, particularly in developing regions. This study investigated urban wastewater overflows from public streets as vectors for extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)- and carbapenemase-producing <i>Enterobacterales</i> and <i>Aeromonas</i> in the Suquía River (Córdoba, Argentina). Sixty-two water samples were analyzed for coliform counts, antimicrobial susceptibility, and resistance genes. Horizontal gene transfer was assessed by conjugation. Sixty-five ESBL- and/or carbapenemase-producing isolates were recovered, including six carbapenemase producers subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Urban wastewater exhibited coliform levels >10⁸ MPN/100 mL, while river counts increased 2-5 logs at urban and downstream sites compared to upstream, where no resistant strains were detected. ESBL- and/or carbapenemase-producers occurred in ~70% of wastewater and river samples, mainly <i>Escherichia coli</i> harboring <i>bla_CTX-M</i> . Carbapenemase producers carried <i>bla_KPC-2</i> or <i>bla_NDM-1</i> in <i>Enterobacter</i>, <i>Klebsiella</i>, <i>Citrobacter</i>, and <i>Aeromonas caviae</i>. WGS revealed extensive resistomes, virulence genes, and plasmid replicons, including IncU and IncA/C2 linked to carbapenemases. Conjugation confirmed plasmid-mediated transfer of β-lactamase genes, and genetic context analysis identified clinically recognized transposons. Notably, <i>Enterobacter kobei</i> and <i>Aeromonas caviae</i> from the river carried <i>bla_KPC-2</i> on plasmidic contigs combining clinical and environmental elements, consistent with genetic exchange within aquatic ecosystems and transfer of clinically significant resistance determinants to species adapted for riverine survival. These findings identify urban wastewater overflows as AMR hotspots that facilitate the dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria and mobile resistance elements into urban and peri-urban aquatic environments, underscoring the need for integrated environmental AMR surveillance.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1669531"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12504239/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145257642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"<i>Poncirus trifoliata</i> vs. <i>Citrus junos</i> rootstocks: reshaping lemon rhizosphere microecology through microbial and metabolic reprogramming.","authors":"Chunrui Long, Xiaomeng Fu, Qingjiang Wu, Shaohua Wang, Xianyan Zhou, Jiamei Mao, Lina Guo, Wenbin Shi, Hongxia Yang, Tiankun Yang, Yuxia Du, Jianqiang Yue, Dongming Wu, Hongming Liu","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1650631","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1650631","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Trifoliate orange (<i>Poncirus trifoliata</i>L. Raf) and \"Ziyang Xiangcheng\" (Citrus junos Sieb. ex Tanaka) are the predominant rootstocks for lemon production in China, exhibiting distinct adaptations to soil pH and differential impacts on plant resilience. As pivotal mediators of scion-soil interactions, rootstocks have emerged as key research targets for their regulatory potential in rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolites.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Pot-cultured systems were established with lemon (<i>Citrus</i> × <i>limon</i> \"Eureka\") saplings grafted onto trifoliate orange (PTL) and \"Ziyang Xiangcheng\" (CJL) rootstocks. Integrated metagenomic and GC-MS metabolomic approaches were employed to analyze rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolites.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results demonstrated no significant difference in rhizospheric microbial α-diversity (richness) between PTL and CJL, although PTL exhibited higher evenness. <i>β</i>-Diversity and LEfSe analysis revealed significant structural divergence in communities. A total of 15 differentially enriched genera across three phyla were identified, among which <i>Pseudomonas</i>, <i>Cupriavidus</i>, and <i>Burkholderia</i> in CJL, along with <i>Sphingobium</i> in PTL, exhibited strong effects. Random forest modeling identified 15 key differential metabolites, with 4 significantly upregulated in CJL and 11 in PTL. Microbial-metabolite correlation and GSEA analysis uncovered 10 core pathways involving genetic information processing, energy metabolism, environmental adaptation, and disease resistance mechanisms. Soil analysis showed CJL significantly surpassed PTL in organic matter content, catalase activity and plant height, whereas PTL exhibited superior cellulase, sucrase and urease activities. Mechanistically, PTL appears to recruit <i>Pseudomonas mediterranea</i> via 1-Monostearin secretion to activate glycerolipid metabolism, enhancing drought tolerance. Its caffeate and salicyl alcohol-<i>β</i>-glucoside secretions potentially mobilize <i>Sphingobium</i> and <i>Ensifer</i> adhaerens to regulate amino sugar metabolism, promoting carbon sequestration and root defense. Conversely, CJL likely employs L-alanine exudation to recruit Pseudomonas putida, triggering exopolysaccharide biosynthesis through arginine-proline metabolism as a key tolerance mechanism (such as drought tolerance and alkali tolerance).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The findings elucidate rootstock-specific modulation of rhizosphere microecosystems, highlighting distinct microbial-metabolite interactions and tolerance mechanisms. These results provide theoretical support for precision rootstock selection and microbiome engineering to advance sustainable citrus production.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1650631"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12505669/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145257848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial prodigiosin shows broad-spectrum bioactivity confirmed by experimental and computational analyses.","authors":"Muhammad Rafiq, Noor Ul Huda, Noor Hassan, Hazrat Ali, Abdul Tawab, Rizwan Bashir, Naveed Iqbal, Zara Rafaque, Faisal Ahmad, Yanyan Wang, Waqar Rauf, Anam Saqib, Iqra Jawad, Yingqian Kang","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1676959","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1676959","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The growing demand for natural bioactive compounds highlights the need for antimicrobial and antioxidative metabolites derived from microbial sources. Among them, prodigiosin, a red pigment from <i>Serratia marcescens</i>, displays potent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. However, optimizing its production and understanding molecular interactions remain challenging. In this study, we identified an optimized process for enhanced yield using peptone meat extract (PM) media at an incubation temperature of 30 °C, which notably outperformed other tested conditions and media. The purified red pigment was further characterized by column and thin-layer chromatography, UV-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). The pigment demonstrated an R <i>_f</i> value of 0.93 through column chromatography and TLC. The structural characteristics were established using UV-Vis (λ_max 536 nm), FT-IR, and ESI-MS/MS (m/z 324.3 amu), consistent with the prodiginine family. The characterized and purified prodigiosin showed excellent antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria <i>Escherichia coli</i> (28.2 ± 0.57 mm) and Gram-positive bacteria <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> (23.58 ± 0.6 mm), together with antifungal activity against <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> and <i>Aspergillus niger</i>. Antioxidant analysis showed a dose-dependent radical-scavenging activity of up to 37.5% at 1000 μg/mL. To understand the mechanistic pathways, molecular docking revealed high binding affinities of the produced metabolite with key target sites as FKS1 (-7.2 kcal/mol) for antifungal inhibition, FabH (-7.3 kcal/mol) against antibacterial inhibition, and Keap1 (-8.3 kcal/mol) for antioxidant activity. Our findings not only feature prodigiosin's broad-spectrum bioactivity but also offer its interaction with molecular targets, providing the basis for developing this metabolite as a natural therapeutic agent in multiple industrial applications, including pharmaceuticals and agriculture.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1676959"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12504492/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145257924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of decomposition of biodegradable mulching films under variable soil microbial conditions.","authors":"Sung Jae Kim, Jun-Yeop Shim, Kyoung Min Park, Dong Il Park, Na Young Heo, Su Jin Hwang, Sung Hoon Park, Hyeon Woo Chung, Jae Myun Lee, Hee Chun Chung","doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1674576","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1674576","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Biodegradable mulching films (BDMs) are sustainable alternatives to polyethylene, but their degradation efficiency is strongly influenced by soil microbial composition. This study investigated the effects of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> and <i>Clostridium perfringens</i>, two soil bacteria with distinct metabolic traits, on the decomposition of BDMs with different structures.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Three biodegradable films (BDM1, BDM2, BDM3) and a polyethylene control were buried in soils containing native microbes, <i>B. subtilis</i>, or <i>C. perfringens</i> and incubated for 210 days. Degradation was evaluated by weight loss, soil pH, microbial viability, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of surface morphology.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All BDMs degraded significantly more than polyethylene. The monolayer BDM3 exhibited the greatest weight loss and surface damage. Soils inoculated with <i>C. perfringens</i> underwent strong acidification (final pH < 5.5), which accelerated degradation, especially in CaCO₃-containing films. Although <i>C. perfringens</i> viability declined over time, accumulated acids sustained film breakdown. By contrast, <i>B. subtilis</i> maintained higher soil populations, promoted gradual degradation, and preserved near-neutral pH, resulting in moderate weight loss.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>These findings demonstrate that soil pH modulation and microbial activity jointly determine BDM degradation. While <i>C. perfringens</i> enhanced film loss through acidification, its agricultural use may pose risks including excessive soil acidification and pathogenicity. <i>B. subtilis</i> provided safer but slower biodegradation. Among the tested films, monolayer BDM3 was most susceptible to breakdown, making it a promising candidate for field application. Careful management of microbial inoculants and soil pH will be essential to maximize BDM performance and environmental safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":12466,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Microbiology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1674576"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12507338/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145257813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}