Pang Meixia, Wang Yan, Tang Yongjun, Dai Jianguo, Tong Jingou, Jin Gang
Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, China; School of Applied Chemistry and Biological Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
School of Applied Chemistry and Biological Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Environ Pollut. 2021 May 15;277:116860. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116860. Epub 2021 Mar 3.
Plastic particles, which are formed from routinely used plastics and their fragments, have become a new pollutant raising widespread concern about their potential effects. Several studies have been conducted to examine their toxicity, but the effects of nano-sized plastic fragments on freshwater organisms remain largely unclear and need to be further investigated. In this study, larval tilapia were first exposed to 100 nm polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs, 20 mg/L) for seven days and then returned to freshwater without PS-NPs for another seven days in order to determine the toxic effects of PS-NPs at both transcriptomic and metabolomic levels. A total of 203 significantly changed metabolites, and 2,152 differentially expressed unigenes were identified between control and PS-NP treatment groups, control and recovery groups, as well as treatment and recovery groups. Our data suggested that PS-NPs induced abnormal metabolism of glycolipids, energy, and amino acids in tilapia after short-term exposure. Additionally, PS-NPs caused disturbed signaling, as suggested by the transcriptomic results. Different transcriptomic and metabolomic levels between the treatment group and recovery group indicated a persistent impact of PS-NPs on tilapia. The presence of adhesion molecule-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) suggested that PS-NPs might cause early inflammatory responses. Notably, the detection of chemical stimulus involved in the sensory perception of smell was the most severely impacted biological process. Our work systemically studied the ecotoxicity of nano-sized plastics in aquatic creatures at the molecular and genetic levels, serving as a basis for future investigations on the prevention and treatment of such pollutants.
塑料微粒由日常使用的塑料及其碎片形成，已成为一种新的污染物，引发了人们对其潜在影响的广泛关注。已有多项研究对其毒性进行了检测，但纳米级塑料碎片对淡水生物的影响在很大程度上仍不明确，有待进一步研究。在本研究中，罗非鱼幼鱼首先暴露于100纳米的聚苯乙烯纳米颗粒（PS-NPs，20毫克/升）中7天，然后再放回不含PS-NPs的淡水中7天，以确定PS-NPs在转录组学和代谢组学水平上的毒性作用。在对照组与PS-NP处理组、对照组与恢复组以及处理组与恢复组之间，共鉴定出203种显著变化的代谢物和2152个差异表达的单基因。我们的数据表明，短期暴露后，PS-NPs会诱导罗非鱼糖脂、能量和氨基酸的代谢异常。此外，转录组学结果表明，PS-NPs会导致信号传导紊乱。处理组和恢复组之间不同的转录组学和代谢组学水平表明PS-NPs对罗非鱼有持续影响。与黏附分子相关的差异表达基因（DEGs）的存在表明，PS-NPs可能会引发早期炎症反应。值得注意的是，参与嗅觉感官感知的化学刺激检测是受影响最严重的生物学过程。我们的工作在分子和基因水平上系统地研究了纳米级塑料对水生生物的生态毒性，为今后此类污染物的防治研究奠定了基础。
