Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167

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Environmental Pollution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol

Degradation of polylactic acid/polybutylene adipate films in different ratios

and the response of bacterial community in soil environments☆
Yalin Zhang a, Wei Gao a, b, Aoyun Mo a, Jie Jiang a, b, Defu He a, b, c, d, *
a
School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
b
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
c
Shanghai Key Laboratory for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
d
Technology Innovation Center for Land Spatial Eco-restoration in Metropolitan Area, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shanghai, 200062, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Biodegradable plastic mulch film (BDM) is an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional polyethylene
Biodegradable plastic film mulch, and has been growingly used in agriculture. However, practical degradation performance of BDM,
Soil especially the widely used type of blended polylactic acid (PLA)/polybutylene adipate (PBAT) in different ratios,
Polylactic acid
and microbial alteration in soil environments, remain largely unrevealed. In this study, four types of BDM
Polybutylene adipate
Bacterial community
blended with 40–80% PLA and 20–60% PBAT were comparatively investigated through microcosm soil incu­
bation experiments for 105 days, and combined with conditions of different soil moisture or pH. Microbiome
within film-surrounding soil were assayed using 16 S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Results showed a trend
of increasing degradation efficiency with the increase of PLA proportion, and 70% PLA and 30% PBAT group
presented the highest weight loss rate, i.e., 60.16 ± 5.86%. In addition, degradation and aging of PLA/PBAT
varied among different soil moisture and pH values. A moderate moisture, i.e., 60% and a neutral pH7.0 caused
significantly high degradation efficiency compared to other moisture or pH conditions. Moreover, bacterial
abundance and community structure in the surrounding soil were related to soil moisture and pH. PLA/PBAT
incubation treatment induced a remarkable increase in abundance of degradation-related species Pseudomonas
and Sphingomonas. Bacterial richness and diversity in soil correspondingly respond to ratio-different PLA/PBAT’s
degradation under moisture/pH-different conditions through a redundancy analysis. Altogether, these findings
indicate that practical degradation of PLA/PBAT film is closely related to soil environments and bacterial
community. It is significant for the application of biodegradable plastics in agriculture on the perspective of soil
sustainability.

1. Introduction
The application of plastics in agriculture has positive economic ef­
fects, such as better crop quality and the increase of food production, but
it also leads to irreversible plastic contamination in agricultural eco­
systems (He et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2019). Conventional plastic such as
polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) were largely applied in
greenhouses, tunnels, and mulching in agricultural activities (Plastic
Europe, 2020). Among them, plastic mulching film had a most heavy
application, and was a major source of plastic residues in agricultural
soil (Li et al., 2022b). In China, the total amount of agricultural
mulching film per year has reached up to 137.9 million tons, has
increased nearly 230 times since 1981 (Xue et al., 2021). Biodegradable
plastics have been proposed as one of the dominant strategies to alle­
viate plastic pollution (Viera et al., 2021). Biodegradable plastic film can
be partially or completely degraded by microorganisms, which is
considered as a promising alternative product for PE mulching film
(Filiciotto and Rothenberg, 2021). Biodegradable plastics can be divided
into biological- and petroleum-based polymers, mainly includes poly­
lactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polybutylene adipate
(PBAT), polycaprolactone (PCL), and so on (Melchor-Martinez et al.,
2022). Currently, plastic film has been gradually used in agriculture, and
global market of mulching film has accounted for about 56.80% of
agricultural plastic film market, it is estimated that the global

☆
This paper has been recommended for acceptance by Xiangzhou Yuan.
* Corresponding author. School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
E-mail address: dfhe@des.ecnu.edu.cn (D. He).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120167
Received 7 July 2022; Received in revised form 21 August 2022; Accepted 9 September 2022
Available online 14 September 2022
0269-7491/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Zhang et al.
biodegradable films will increase to 2.62 × 106 tons in 2023 (European
Bioplastics, 2017; Xie et al., 2022). However, there are still knowledge
gaps of BDM, especially about practical degradation performance and
environmental risks (Flury and Narayan, 2021; Griffin-LaHue et al.,
2022; Yang et al., 2022).
According to EN17033 standard (EN 17033, 2018), BDM should
meet the request of a degradation rate of 90% within 2 years. A rela­
tively short degradation cycle is advantageous for BDM. However, the
growth cycle of major crops is usually in the range of 3–6 months, which
is obviously shorter than the cycle of commercial BDM’s degradation.
Therefore, it is needed to explore the practical degradation of BDM and
its influencing factors, and possibly synchronizes with the crop growth
cycle. According to previous studies, the biodegradation of BDM largely
depended on the composition of polymer materials, of various degra­
dation performance among different types of BDM (Choe et al., 2021).
Currently, PLA and PBAT are mostly-widely used BDM in agriculture.
However, the application of PBAT is limited due to poor performance in
toughness and weak photo-aging properties (Kanwal et al., 2022a).
Otherwise, PLA has good mechanical properties, processability and
biodegradability (Taib et al., 2022) and has widely used as mulch, drip
irrigation pipes, and shielded greenhouse tunnels. PLA and PBAT are
usually blended to improve material performance for meeting the
request of agricultural film (Gigante et al., 2019). Previous studies have
demonstrated that the degradation of single PLA or PBAT was related to
their molecular structure, purity, and crystallinity (De Ho et al., 2019;
Choe et al., 2021). However, practical degradation performance of
blended PLA/PBAT, especially of different ratios as agricultural
mulching film, remains largely unrevealed.
Currently, blend ratios of PLA/PBAT mulch were mostly based on
production property, but rarely linkage with practical soil environments
(Izzati et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2021). Physical and chemical properties of
soil, such as moisture, temperature, and pH varied greatly (Yuan et al.,
2020; Chen et al., 2022). Degradation of PLA/PBAT film would be
influenced by these soil factors, and mulching treatment would in turn
affect soil properties. For instance, degradation ability of PBAT was
largely different in different types of soil (Han et al., 2021). In addition,
soil moisture and pH varied greatly among different regions. For
example, soil moisture and pH were respectively reported in the range of
30–90% and 5.0–9.0 in China (Zhu et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020).
Therefore, it is needed to explore practical degradation of PLA/PBAT
film under conditions of different soil moisture and pH.
Microbial communities are crucial to stabilize soil ecosystems and
plant growth (Isobe et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022a). However, appli­
cation of BDM can influence soil microbiome (Chen et al., 2020; Li et al.,
2022a; Wang et al., 2022a; Zhang et al., 2022b). Previous studies have
shown the increase of microbial activity in soil after the use of plastic
mulching (Fang et al., 2020; Gomez et al., 2020). Microbial community
in the surrounding soil would be influenced by the application of BDM
(Zhou et al., 2021). In addition, BDM could indirectly affect soil mi­
crobial communities through changes in soil microclimate, such as
water, temperature, and vapor diffusion. In turn, the change of micro­
bial community would affect the degradation rate of BDM. Polymer
degradation of biodegradable plastics was absolutely dependent on
related enzymes microorganisms secreted (Polman et al., 2021; Sanchez,
2021; Wang et al., 2022b). For example, Brevundimonas and Sphingo­
bacterium were proved as main bacteria to degrade PLA/PBAT in
anaerobic digestion plants (Peng et al., 2022). Despite of existing studies
on microbial degradation of single PLA or PBAT (Delacuvellerie et al.,
2021), microbial response to PLA/PBAT films of different ratios in soil
has never been investigated, especially linkage with different soil
conditions.
In this study, the degradation of agricultural film of PLA/PBAT blend
with different ratios were comparatively investigated through micro­
cosm soil incubation experiments. Degradation efficiency was deter­
mined by morphology changes and mass balance. Oxidation and aging
characteristics of PLA/PBAT film were evaluated by the infrared
2
Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167
spectrum and carbonyl index. We further analyzed degradation of PLA/
PBAT film under different soil moisture or pH conditions. Finally,
microbiome within film-surrounding soil were fully assayed; bacterial
richness and diversity were emphatically analyzed and compared among
film-different, soil moisture- or pH-different groups. The objective of this
study is to reveal degradation characteristics of different ratio PLA/
PBAT film and microbial community’s response in soil environments.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Plastic films and soil
Four types of different ratio PLA/PBAT films were selected as BDM
materials. Conventional PE mulching film was simultaneously used as a
comparative material. These commercial plastic films were purchased
from local companies (the detailed shown in Table S1). PLA/PBAT and
PE film was identified by the method of the infrared spectrum (Nicolet
iS5, Thermo Fisher Scientific). Ratios of PLA and PBAT composition in
biodegradable plastic film were further assayed using thermal gravi­
metric analyzer (TGA/DSC3+, Mettler Toledo). According to previous
thermogravimetric analysis method (Xiang et al., 2020), composition
proportions of PLA and PBAT were determined as 40, 50, 70, 80% and
60, 50, 30, 20% in four types of BDM, respectively (Fig. S1). Agricultural
soil was collected from farmland in Huai’an, Jiangsu Province in May
2021. Physical and chemical properties of soil including electrical con­
ductivity, pH value, organic matter content, and bulk density were
measured according to previous methods (Nelson and Sommers, 1982;
Klute and Dinauer, 1986; Capka et al., 2009). Three parallel experiments
run for each parameter (Detailed shown in Table S2).
2.2. Plastic film degradation and experimental groups
Soil was naturally dried for 48 h, and then filtered through a 2000
μm-size sieve to remove big debris. The soil was filled in a series of
glassware (about 90 g soil in each glassware), and used for degradation
experiment of plastic film. Ratio-different PLA/PBAT films and PE films
were cut to small pieces in an uniform size of 4.5 × 4.5 cm, and then
respectively buried 2 cm below the surface of soil in glass wares. Each
glassware only contained a plastic piece, all experimental treatments
and controls were set up in triplicate. These containers were sealed with
tin foil, which were uniformly perforated in order to ensure a dark and
aerobic environment. The whole degradation experiment was per­
formed for 105 days, and residual film were collected per 15–30 days
after incubation treatment. The soil incubation and plastic degradation
process was carried out within a clean bench and the temperature was
kept at 25 ◦ C. The soil relative moisture was determined by gravimetric
method, and adjusted to 30–90% based on analysis of relative moisture
content, and the soil pH was adjusted to 5.5–8.5 with ferrous sulfate
solutions and hydrated lime solutions.
A total of 3 experimental groups were performed in this study,
including film-different groups, soil moisture-, and pH- different groups;
corresponding controls without plastic film incubation were simulta­
neously carried out (detailed group information shown in Table S3).
Film-different groups included four types of different ratio PLA/PBAT, i.
e., L80/B20, L70/B30, L50/B50, L40/B60, and PE. Soil moisture-
different groups included H30, H60, and H90, for 30%, 60%, and 90%
moisture for PLA/PBAT(L70/B30) degradation experiment. Soil pH-
different groups, i.e., pH5.5, pH7.0, and pH8.5 were also experi­
mented for degradation of PLA/PBAT film.
2.3. Determination of weight loss rate of mulching film
In experiment, plastic film samples were ultrasonically cleaned with
distilled water for 3 min, and repeated 3 times. Then, these film samples
were naturally dried, and fully spread and photographed. After that,
each film was weighed using an electronic balance, and as md (after
Y. Zhang et al.
degradation). The original mass of film was mo (before degradation).
The weight loss rate was calculated as according to following formula
(1). Three pieces of film were collected and assayed at each sampling
time for each experiment group.
Weight loss rate (%) = (mo − md ) / mo x 100% Formula
2.4. Infrared spectrometer analysis and carbonyl index determination
After residual film samples were cleaned and dried, then infrared
absorption spectrum of each residual film was gained by Fourier trans­
form infrared spectrometer (Nicolet iS5, Thermo Fisher Scientific). The
wave number range was set in the range of 4000–400 cm− 1, and the
scanning frequency was 16 times. Three sampling points on each plastic
film were randomly tested. After calibration, the infrared absorption
spectra were used to calculate the carbonyl index of each group. The
carbonyl index was determined as the ratio of the carbonyl peak area to
the reference peak area. The actual spectrum 1770-1690 cm− 1 was set as
the carbonyl peak for PE, and 1790-1600 cm− 1 was set as that for PLA/
PBAT film. The reference peak was set at 1500-1400 cm− 1 for PE, and at
1560-1330 cm− 1 for PLA/PBAT (Rudnik and Briassoulis, 2011; Palai
et al., 2021).
2.5. Microbial diversity analysis
2.5.1. Sample collection
After incubation treatment, about 2–3 g soil sample was collected
nearly treated plastic film (2 mm above and below) in each glassware.
Control soil samples were collected at the same depth of soil without
plastic film. All experimental and control treatments were set up in
triplicate. Samples were stored in a refrigerator at − 80 ◦ C for subsequent
analysis.
2.5.2. DNA extraction
According to the product instructions of Fast DNA ® Sample, DNA
was extracted using spin kit for soil kits. The product DNA quality was
evaluated by 1% agarose gel electrophoresis. Fluorescence quantitative
instrument and spectrophotometer were respectively used to determine
the concentration and purity of extracted DNA.
2.5.3. PCR amplification and quality inspection
The V3–V4 region of bacterial 16 S ribosomal RNA (16 S rRNA) was
amplified by PCR amplifier. Fragment of 515 F (5′ -
GTGCCAGCMGCCGCGGTAA-3′ ) and 806 R (5′ -GGAC­
TACHVGGGTWTCTAAT-3′ ) were used as primers for PCR amplification.
The length and concentration of PCR products were detected by 1%
agarose gel electrophoresis. Samples with bright main bands were used
for further experiments. PCR reaction contained 25 μL 2x Premix Taq, 1
μL Primer-F (10 μM), 1 μL Primer-R (10 μM) and 50 ng DNA. After
comparing the concentration of PCR products with genetools analysis
software (Syngene, version4.03.05.0), the required volume of each
sample was calculated according to the principle of equal mass, and
mixed with the PCR products. Then, mixed PCR products were recov­
ered by e. z.n.a ® Gel extraction kit gel Recovery Kit. After eluted by
buffers, target DNA fragments were finally recovered.
2.5.4. Library construction and sequencing
Subsequent high-throughput sequencing steps such as library con­
struction, quality inspection and on-line sequencing were performed in
MEG gene sequencing company (Magigene, Shanghai) on the Illumina
hiseq2500 platform. The V3V4-1 segment (front-end primer sequence
“actcctacggaggcagca” and back-end primer sequence “ggac­
tachvggtwtctaat”) of bacteria in collected samples were sequenced.
2.5.5. Amplicon analysis
The AxyPrep DNA gel was used to extract and purify the amplicon Kit
Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167
(Axygen Biosciences, USA), and quantified by Quantifluor St (Promega,
USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Then, the purified
amplicons were combined in equimolar (11 ng DNA/sample) and paired
ends on the Miseq platform (Illumina, USA) in terms of the standard
protocol of Majorbio biopharm (Shanghai, China) (Li et al., 2018). On
(1)
Megson cloud platform, OTU clustering, species annotation,
Alfa-diversity including Shannon and Chao1 index, β-diversity, i.e., a
non-metric multidimensional scale (NMDS), and redundancy analysis
were carried out for all sample sequences.
2.6. Quality assurance and quality control
All experiments were carried out in a dry and clean environment.
Samples are kept in a dark, aerobic, closed environment to avoid
interference from atmospheric fallout. The vessels were rinsed three
times with distilled water and dried before use. In the experiment of
microbial diversity analysis, sample collection, PCR amplification, and
gene sequencing were strictly according to quality assurance and control
of standard molecular biology (Liao and Chen, 2021).
2.7. Statistical analyses
SPSS 23.0 software was used for data analysis. All data are expressed
as mean ± standard error (SEM). Chao1 index and Shannon index were
respectively used to estimate bacterium community richness and di­
versity for indicating α-diversity, which were calculated using QIIME 2
and visualized by R software v3.2.0. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was
conducted to analyze factors influencing bacterial communities in soil.
The significant differences between different groups were analyzed by t-
test, and multiple groups by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The
p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All data
were mapped using GraphPad prism 6.
3. Results
3.1. Biodegradation of different ratio PLA/PBAT mulching film
After soil incubation treatment, the four types of PLA/PBAT film
presented significant breakage and loss in comparison to pre-treatment
(Fig. 1A). But morphological changes were very slight in PE film. Among
four groups of ratio-different PLA/PBAT, L70/B30 presented the highest
weight loss rate, i.e., 60.16 ± 5.86%, followed by L80/B20 with 45.68
± 4.35%, then L50/B50 and L40/B60 with 29.40 ± 2.58% and 17.63 ±
1.84%, respectively (Fig. 1B). Weight loss rates of four PLA/PBAT film
were markedly higher than that of PE film. During incubation treatment,
weight loss rates were relatively low in the first 60 days; then rise
gradually in PLA/PBAT film, especially L70/B30 and L80/B20 groups
(Fig. S2A). Finally, there were significant differences in weight loss rates
among L80/B20, L70/B30, and L50/B50 or L40/B60 group (Fig. 1B).
Infrared spectrums of pre- and post-treatment plastic film were
compared in each group (Fig. 1C). Carbonyl index was further used to
indicate oxidation degrees of these films. Results showed that the
carbonyl index of post-treatment was significantly higher than corre­
sponding pre-treatment in all five groups (p < 0.05). After incubation
treatment, the carbonyl index of L70/B30 increased by 1.96 times.
Among four BDM groups, change trend in means of carbonyl index
remained consistent with weight loss rates (Fig. 1B–D). Otherwise, the
carbonyl index of PE film increased by 7.67 times in comparison to the
pre-treatment (p < 0.05).
3.2. Effect of soil moisture and pH value on degradation of PLA/PBAT
film
We further investigated the impact of soil moisture and pH on
degradation efficiency of PLA/PBAT film. Results showed that residual
BDM varied largely among different moisture or pH conditions (Fig. 2A).
3
Y. Zhang et al.
Obviously, neutral soil environmental conditions caused relatively
serious damages or loss of PLA/PBAT film. Statical results showed H60
group presented a biggest weight loss, i.e., 60.16 ± 5.86%, followed by
H90 (15.84 ± 0.35%) and H30 group (10.37 ± 0.92%), with significant
differences among the three groups (Fig. 2B). Similarly, pH7.0 group
showed the biggest weight loss rate, and then pH5.5 and pH8.5 group of
13.24 ± 0.68% and 1.98 ± 0.30% loss. In the process of incubation
treatment, weight loss rates mainly appeared in the last 45 days
(Figs. S2B–C). Then, infrared spectrum of pre- and post-treated PLA/
PBAT film were simultaneously presented and compared (Fig. 2C).
4
Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167
Fig. 1. Degradation characteristics of different-ratio
PLA/PBAT film in soil. (A–B) Morphological
changes (A) and weight loss rate (B) of different types
of films; (C–D) Changes of infrared spectra (C) and
corresponding carbonyl index (D) before and after
soil degradation treatment of PLA/PBAT and PE films;
Data are expressed as standard error of the mean
(±SEM). The letter a, b, c, or d indicates significant
difference compared with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, t-test,
compared to corresponding pre-treatment.
Fig. 2. Effects of soil moisture and pH values on
degradation and aging of PLA/PBAT films in soil.
(A–B) Morphological changes (A) and weight loss
rates (B) of PLA/PBAT films under different soil
moisture and pH values; (C–D) Infrared spectrum (C)
and Carbonyl index (D) changes of PLA/PBAT films.
PLA/PBAT film was mixture of 70% PLA and 30%
PBAT, and was treated of soil incubation for 105 day.
Data are expressed as standard error of the mean
(±SEM). The letter a, b, or c indicates significant
difference compared with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd group. *p
< 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, t-test, compared to
corresponding pre-treatment.
Oxidation degree of these films was further characterized by their
carbonyl index. Results showed that the carbonyl index of BDM in three
moisture-different groups was significantly elevated after incubation
treatment (p < 0.05), and especially increased 1.96 times in H60 group
(Fig. 2D). In pH-different groups, significant elevation of the carbonyl
index only occurred in pH7.0 group. In both moisture- and pH- different
groups, the carbonyl index change was consistent with the trend of
weight loss.
Y. Zhang et al.
3.3. Bacterial flora in soil after degradation treatment of PLA/PBAT film
After high-throughput sequencing of microbiome from film-
incubation soil samples, a total of 2,094,710 valid splice fragments
were obtained. The number of valid splice fragments varied in the range
of 103,897–119,111 among samples. With the increase of dilution per­
centage, richness of bacterial species gradually flattened to a saturation
stage (Fig. S3). The characteristics of dilution curves demonstrated that
sequencing analysis was relatively accurate, and covered all bacterial
compartments in the samples. Results showed that a total of 325 bac­
terial OTUs appeared in all soil samples of different groups. However,
the minimum 672, 2210, and 1079 to the maximum 2974 of unique
OTUs occurred in film-, soil humility-, and pH- different groups
(Fig. 3A). Bacteria were subsequently identified at phyla level. Results
showed that a total of 31 bacterium phyla were contained within these
samples. Top 20 bacterial phyla in relative abundance were detailly
shown in Fig. 4B. The bacteria mainly consisted of Proteobacteria
(25.2–77.1%), Bacteroidetes (8.5–16.7%), Actinomyces (2.9–14.3%),
Chlorotrophomonas (0.3–17.1%), and Acidobacter (0.2–12.9%). Phylum-
level analyses showed that microbial community structure varied among
film- and soil moisture-different groups. Among them, Proteobacteria
presented a high abundance in pH-different groups. In addition, Chlor­
oflex in pH5.5 and pH8.5 group was of a relatively low abundance
proportion, but Firmicutes showed a relatively high proportion in com­
parison to pH7.0 group (Fig. 3B).
The bacterial community structure was further analyzed at the genus
level. A total of 212 genera were identified in all experimental and
control groups. Major species included Pseudomonas (0.2–15.2%),
Sphingomonas (0.3–10.1%), Citrobacter (0.01–29.1%) and Devosia
(0.02–17.9%) (Fig. 3C). The proportion of dominant bacteria varied
among film-, soil humility-, and pH- different groups. In film-different
groups, Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas showed high abundance, but
with slight variance among ratio-different PLA/PBAT groups, despite of
obvious difference from the control group. In the moisture- and pH-
different groups, we also found relatively high abundance of Pseudo­
monas and Sphingomonas in experimental groups, when compared with
corresponding control groups. However, abundance of other microbial
species varied among experimental or control groups, without obvious
characteristics.
3.4. Alpha and beta diversity of soil microbiota respond to PLA/PBAT
film
According to NMDS ordination analysis, species and related evolu­
tionary information of bacterial communities of soil samples in all
groups were rearranged as points on a two-dimensional spatial axis
(Fig. 4A). NMDS was well fitted to the relationships between microbial
community structures based on Bray-Curtis similarity coefficients. The
distance between sample points indicated relationship of microbial
community between the samples. Results showed that pH5.5, pH7.0,
and pH8.5 groups’ coverage areas did not overlap, and had relatively
large distances. Under the same treatment condition, pH7.0, H30, H60,
and H90 groups’ coverage areas intersected, but did not completely
overlap, with relatively small distances. It demonstrated that structural
variances of bacterial communities were related to both soil pH and
moisture. Furthermore, results showed that both Shannon and Chao1
index of bacterial communities varied in film-different groups. Among
four types of PLA/PBAT groups, L80/B20 and L70/B30 presented rela­
tively high Shannon and Chao1 index in comparison to other BDM or
control groups (Fig. 4B and C). In moisture-different groups, Chao1
index and Shannon index presented an increasing trend with the in­
crease of soil moisture (Fig. 4D and E). Otherwise, Shannon and Chao1
index in pH7.0 group was significantly higher than that in pH5.5 or
pH8.5 group (Fig. 4D and E).
The relationship of bacterial community structure and PLA/PBAT
film, soil moisture or pH was further evaluated by redundancy analysis.
5
Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167
Results showed that the rda1 and rda2 axis covered 21.69% and 10.30%
of the total variation of bacterial community structure, respectively.
Three groups of variables including PLA proportion, soil moisture, and
pH were emphatically analyzed correspond to three groups of different
experiments. Results showed that the contribution rate of PLA propor­
tion of BDM was the highest, reaching 57.5% (p < 0.01), followed by soil
moisture with 26.9% of a significant impact (p < 0.05), and then pH
with 15.7% but of no significance (Fig. 5).
4. Discussion
4.1. Degradation characteristics of different ratio PLA/PBAT film
The present study revealed different degradation efficiency and mi­
crobial response among different ratio PLA-PBAT mulch films in soil.
Our results demonstrated a relatively high degradation rate in mulching
films with high-proportion PLA such as 70% and 80%. It indicates PLA
and PBAT have various degradation efficiency in the same soil condi­
tion, which would be closely related to their molecule structures and
special degradation-related microbiome. This is supported by several
previous studies. For example, biodegradation rates of PBAT and PLA in
the PLA/PBAT blend were lower than those for the respective single
polymers in freshwater with sediment (Fu et al., 2020). Other studies
also showed various degradation rates among single and blend PBAT/­
PLA films (Fu et al., 2020; Xie et al., 2022), which are consistent with the
present study. In view of polymer structures, PLA contains a large
number of ester groups. The main degradation of PLA occurred mainly
through the random breaking of the main chain ester groups, and the
degradation trend varied among functional groups. In PBAT, soft
aliphatic domain was easier to hydrolyze than rigid aromatic domain
(Kanwal et al., 2021). The difference of polymer structure would largely
decide practical efficiency by the action of soil microbiome. Our results
first provided degradation data of ratio-different PLA/PBAT film in soil.
It is significant to producer or user for environmentally friendly appli­
cation of PLA/PBAT film.
Moreover, our results disclosed special soil bacteria promoted
degradation of PLA/PBAT film. At the level of genus, Pseudomonas and
Sphingomonas were found to positively related to the degradation of
PLA/PBAT film. Moreover, the abundance of Pseudomonas and Sphin­
gomonas presented an increasing trend with the increase of PLA pro­
portion in PLA/PBAT film. It indicates that Pseudomonas and
Sphingomonas are the key species for the degradation of BDM. It is
supported by several studies about the degradation of BDM. For
example, in BDM field experiment in a Mediterranean apricot orchard,
Pseudomonas putida was isolated from the soil attached to the polymer
surface (Fontanazza et al., 2021). Bandopadhyay et al. (2020) also
showed that the richness of Methylobacter, Arthrobacter and Sphingomo­
nas in the soil after use of biodegradable plastic film. In another study,
Pseudomonas, Flavorbacterium and Rhizobacterium were also considered
as potential degradation bacteria for biodegradable plastic films (Liang
et al., 2022). Other studies indicated that PLA-degraded bacteria
included Bacillus, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Alcanivorax and Amyco­
latopsis (Satti et al., 2017; Butbunchu and Pathom-Aree, 2019; Zhang
et al., 2019). These results were consistent with the present study, which
suggest that Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas were major types of
BDP-degradation bacteria in soil.
4.2. Influencing factors of degradation of BDM
The present study disclosed degradation efficiency of PLA/PBAT
mulch varied under different soil moisture and pH conditions. Moderate
moisture of 60% and a neutral pH were optimal conditions for the
degradation of BDM. According to a previous study, the degradation rate
of PLA/PBAT blends was relatively slow in natural soil environments
possible due to inappropriate degradation conditions (Agarwal, 2020).
Soil moisture was considered as a major driver of organismal activity,
Y. Zhang et al. Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167

Fig. 3. Bacterial flora in soil after degradation treatment of different-ratio PLA/PBAT film under conditions of different soil moisture and pH value. (A) Veen diagram
of bacterial species among soil sample groups (OTU level); (B–C) Bacterial community structure of different-treated soil samples at the phylum (B) and genetic (C)
level. Data are expressed as standard error of the mean (±SEM).

6
Y. Zhang et al. Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167

Fig. 4. Inter-group bacterium diversity analysis of soil samples after incubation treatment of PLA/PBAT films. (A) Nonmetric dimensional scaling (NMDS) plots for
microbiome community among soil moisture- and pH-different groups; (B–C) Comparison of bacterial α-diversity by Chao1 index (B) and Shannon index (C) among
film-different groups; (D–E) Chao1 index (D) and Shannon index (E) indicate bacterial α-diversity between moisture- or pH-different groups.

the surface of PLA/PBAT could be inhomogeneously hydrolyzed during

mineralization (Krueger et al., 2015; Kliem et al., 2020). Another study
showed that an appropriate moisture was conducive for the hydrolysis of
polymers. In this process, the ester bond or hydrophilic groups would be
gradually cut and decomposed polymers into small fragments, which
might be used as an additional carbon source for soi microbiome. A
previous study demonstrated that excessive soil water content could
influence the activity of microorganisms, then affect the degradation of
biodegradable plastic film (Rosli et al., 2021). It is consistent with the
present study, together indicating appropriate soil moisture beneficial to
soil microbiome and subsequent degradation of BDM. In another study,
the richness of bacterial community was promoted after the increase of
soil moisture (Liu et al., 2020). Similarly, Pseudomonas had relatively
low the survival rate in low soil moisture (Yasmin et al., 2022). These
supported our results that degradation bacteria Pseudomonas and
Sphingomonas had relatively high abundance under condition of mod­
erate soil moisture.
In addition, the present study demonstrated that pH7.0 condition
induced relatively high degradation efficiency of PLA/PBAT film, as well
as high abundance of related bacterium. It was speculated that the pH
values of 5.5 and 8.5 might exceed the most appropriate pH range of
degradation bacteria for BDM. During hydrolysis, the cleavage of PLA
chain would release H+ and acid monomers. Similarly, PBAT can be
depolymerized to produce water-soluble products such as terephthalic
acid (Zumstein et al., 2018; Fu et al., 2020; Jia et al., 2021; Soulenthone
et al., 2021). Therefore, degradation of PLA or PBAT might change soil
Fig. 5. Redundancy analysis of soil bacterial community (phylum level) and
pH value to a certain degree (Goto et al., 2020; Kanwal et al., 2022b). In
PLA proportion of blended films, soil moisture, or pH value after incubation
turn, pH values would affect bacterial community and degradation ef­
treatment of PLA/PBAT films.
ficiency of BDM. This study provides crucial evidence in detail. Another

7
Y. Zhang et al.
study also proved that potential degradation bacteria Pseudomonas and
Sphingomonas were significantly enriched in slightly acidic soil (Ma
et al., 2021), which is in line with our results. Therefore, this study
provides an important reference about influencing factors of BDM′
degradation, which is helpful for guiding large-scale application of BDM.
4.3. Environmental implication
The present study has revealed practical degradation characteristics
of ratio-different PLA/PBAT film and the response of microbial com­
munity. These results are significant for producers and users for selec­
tion of PLA/PBAT mulch film in an appropriate blend ratio. This study
provides crucial evidence of practical degradation efficiency of ratio-
different PLA/PBAT mulch, which would be helpful to guide their pro­
duction in terms of soil sustainability. In addition, BDM would degrade
too fast or too slow under suboptimal conditions including soil moisture
and pH, and could not meet the application performance as agricultural
film. In fact, soil property varies globally. For example, in China,
moisture of agricultural soil varied in the range of 30–90%, and the pH
mostly in the range of 5.0–9.0 (Zhu et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020). From the
perspective of geographical distribution, soil presented characteristics of
“wet in the East, dry in the West, acid in the South and alkali in the
north” in China (Han et al., 2020; Zhao et al., 2021). According to our
results, PLA/PBAT mulching film would have various degradation effi­
ciency among these regions. Therefore, use and management policy
would be correspondingly modulated in terms of local soil conditions.
We further found remarkable changes of soil microbiome after
application of PLA/PBAT mulch. For example, degradation-related
Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas obviously increased. Changes of soil
microbiome would alter soil function and fertility, which might have a
long-term impact on soil sustainability. A previous study showed the use
of BDM increased dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, but decreased
active nitrogen in soil (Meng et al., 2021). Mazzon et al. (2022)
demonstrated that BMP increased carbon mineralization and immobi­
lization of available nitrogen after their application. As a carbon source,
BDM may have a positive effect on functional microorganisms and soil
fertility. Previous studies showed that the application of BDP caused
obvious increase of related bacteria (Chen et al., 2020; Qi et al., 2020),
and even significantly improved soil enzyme activity (Gao et al., 2021).
Combined with these results, the present study provides an in-depth
observation of interaction of BDM and soil microbiome. With the
popularization of commercial PLA/PBAT film, the potential impacts on
soil properties and microorganisms should be more considered and
researched.
5. Conclusion
This study revealed a trend of increasing degradation efficiency with
the increase of PLA proportion in PLA/PBAT plastic mulch. Moreover,
degradation and aging of mulch varied among different soil moisture
and pH values. A moderate moisture, i.e., 60% and a neutral pH 7.0 were
relatively optimal conditions for degradation of PLA/PBAT. Soil bacte­
rial community structure was related to soil moisture and pH. After in­
cubation treatment of PLA/PBAT film, abundance of degradation-
related species, such as Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas, were obvi­
ously elevated. Bacterial richness and diversity were correspondingly
changed in response to PLA/PBAT′ s degradation under conditions of
different soil moisture and pH values. Collectively, the present study
suggests that practical degradation of PLA/PBAT plastic mulch is closely
related to soil environments and bacterial community. It provides a
significant insight on the application of biodegradable plastics on the
perspective of soil sustainability.
Author contribution
Yalin Zhang: Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft.
8
Environmental Pollution 313 (2022) 120167
Wei Gao: Methodology, Investigation. Aoyun Mo: Investigation. Jie
Jiang: Investigation. Defu He: Conceptualization, Methodology, Inves­
tigation, Validation, Funding acquisition, Project administration,
Writing -review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 42277273) and the National Key Research and Develop­
ment Program of China (No. 2018YFC1901004). All authors would
appreciate the comments by Dr. W-M Wu, Stanford University.
Appendix B. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120167.
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