Polystyrene nanoplastic induces oxidative stress, immune defense, and glycometabolism change in Daphnia pulex: Application of transcriptome profiling in risk assessment of nanoplastics

Aquatic environments are generally contaminated with nanoplastic material. As a result, molecular mechanisms for sensitive species like Daphnia are needed, given that mechanistic nanoplastic toxicity is largely unknown. Here, global transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed on D. pulex neonates to quantitatively measure the expression level of transcripts. A total of 208 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in response to nanoplastic exposure for 96 h, with 107 being up-regulated and 101 down-regulated. The gene functions and pathways for oxidative stress, immune defense, and glycometabolism were identified. In this study, D. pulex neonates provide some molecular insights into nanoplastic toxicity. However, more studies on DEGs are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms that result as a response to nanoplastic toxicity in aquatic organisms.

Automated summary

This study used global transcriptome sequencing to investigate the impact of nanoplastic exposure on gene expression levels in Daphnia neonates, revealing key genes associated with oxidative stress, immune defense, and glycometabolism. Daphnia provides some molecular insights into nanoplastic toxicity, but further research on differentially expressed genes is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms.