Unraveling the Impact of Microplastic–Tetracycline Composite Pollution on the Moon Jellyfish Aurelia aurita: Insights from Its Microbiome

Abstract

Microplastics have emerged as a pervasive marine contaminant, with extreme concentrations reported in deep-sea sediments (e.g., 1.9 million particles/m2) and localized accumulations near Antarctic research stations. Particular concern has been raised regarding their synergistic effects with co-occurring antibiotics, which may potentiate toxicity and facilitate antibiotic resistance gene dissemination through microbial colonization of plastic surfaces. To investigate these interactions, a 185-day controlled exposure experiment was conducted using Aurelia aurita polyps. Factorial combinations of microplastics (0, 0.1, 1 mg/L) and tetracycline (0, 0.5, 5 mg/L) were employed to simulate environmentally relevant pollution scenarios. Microbiome alterations were characterized using metagenomic approaches. Analysis revealed that while alpha and beta diversity measures remained unaffected at environmental concentrations, significant shifts occurred in the relative abundance of dominant bacterial taxa, including Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota, and Mycoplasmatota. Metabolic pathway analysis demonstrated perturbations in key functional categories including cellular processes and environmental signal transduction. Furthermore, microplastic exposure was associated with modifications in polyp life-stage characteristics, suggesting potential implications for benthic–pelagic population dynamics. These findings provide evidence for the impacts of microplastic–antibiotic interactions on cnidarian holobionts, with ramifications for predicting jellyfish population responses in contaminated ecosystems.