Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 811, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152350
Keywords
Editor; Daqiang Yin; Caenorhabditis elegans; Aged microplastics; Reproductive toxicity; DNA damage; Cell apoptosis
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21876059]
- Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [41931298]
- National Key R&D Program of China [2019YFC1803403]
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Exposure to aged polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) resulted in more severe reproductive toxicity to Caenorhabditis elegans compared to pristine PS-MPs, likely due to DNA damage-induced cell apoptosis.
Although many studies have investigated the toxic effects of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs), toxicity of natural aged of PS-MPs to soil organisms remains unclear. The photodegradation of virgin PS-MPs under UV irradiation was investigated, and reproductive toxicity of pristine and UV-photodegraded PS-MPs at environmental concentrations (0.1-100 mu g/L) was examined to Caenorhabditis elegans. Using brood size and egg ejection rate as endpoints, acute exposure to aged PS-MPs resulted in more severe reproductive toxicity than pristine PS-MPs. Exposure to 100 mu g/L aged PS-MPs significantly increased the number of HUS-1::GFP foci and the expression of genes required for DNA damage, such as clk-2, cep-1, and egl-1, suggesting induction of DNA damage. Additionally, the number of cell corpses and apoptosis-related gene expression (e.g., ced-3, ced-4, and ced-9) were significantly altered, indicating induction of apoptosis. Germline apoptosis induced by aged PS-MPs was altered in egl-1, hus-1, cep-1, ced-3, ced-4, and ced-9 mutants. Thus, the reproductive toxicity of aged PS-MPs may be due to DNA damage-induced cell apoptosis, and the HUS-1CEP-1-EGL-1-CED-9-CED-4-CED-3 signalling pathway is involved in regulating cell apoptosis in nematodes.
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