State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100000, China.
Environ Int. 2024 Mar;185:108496. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108496. Epub 2024 Feb 12.
Artificial sweeteners (AS) are extensively utilized as sugar substitutes and have been recognized as emerging environmental contaminants. While the effect of AS on aquatic organisms has garnered recent attention, their effects on soil invertebrates and gut microbial communities remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we exposed springtails (Folsomia candida) to both single and combined treatments of four typical AS (sucralose [SUC], saccharin [SAC], cyclamate [CYC], and acesulfame [ACE]) at environmentally relevant concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg kg in soil. Following the first-generational exposure, the reproduction of juveniles showed a significant increase under all the AS treatments of 0.1 mg kg. The transcriptomic analysis revealed significant enrichment of several Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome pathways (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, amino sugar, and nucleotide sugar metabolism, ribosome, and lysosome) in springtails under all AS treatments. Analysis of gut bacterial microbiota indicated that three AS (SUC, CYC, and ACE) significantly decreased alpha diversity, and all AS treatments increased the abundance of the genus Achromobacter. After the sixth-generational exposure to CYC, weight increased, but reproduction was inhibited. The pathways that changed significantly (e.g., extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, lysosome) were generally similar to those altered in first-generational exposure, but with opposite regulation directions. Furthermore, the effect on the alpha diversity of gut microbiota was contrary to that after first-generational exposure, and more noticeable disturbances in microbiota composition were observed. These findings underscore the ecological risk of AS in soils and improve our understanding of the toxicity effects of AS on living organisms.
人工甜味剂（AS）被广泛用作糖替代品，已被认为是新兴的环境污染物。虽然 AS 对水生生物的影响引起了人们的关注，但它们对土壤无脊椎动物和肠道微生物群落的影响尚不清楚。为了填补这一知识空白，我们将跳虫（Folsomia candida）暴露于四种典型 AS（蔗糖素[SUC]、糖精[SAC]、甜蜜素[CYC]和乙酰磺胺酸钾[ACE]）的单一和组合处理中，浓度分别为 0.01、0.1 和 1mg/kg，这三个浓度在土壤中均具有环境相关性。在第一代暴露后，所有 AS 处理（0.1mg/kg）下，幼体的繁殖均显著增加。转录组分析显示，在所有 AS 处理下，跳虫中几个京都基因与基因组百科全书途径（如糖酵解/糖异生、戊糖和葡萄糖醛酸转化、氨基糖和核苷酸糖代谢、核糖体和溶酶体）显著富集。肠道细菌微生物组分析表明，三种 AS（SUC、CYC 和 ACE）显著降低了 alpha 多样性，所有 AS 处理均增加了无色杆菌属的丰度。在第六代暴露于 CYC 后，体重增加，但繁殖受到抑制。发生显著变化的途径（如细胞外基质-受体相互作用、氨基糖和核苷酸糖代谢、溶酶体）通常与第一代暴露时改变的途径相似，但调控方向相反。此外，对肠道微生物群落 alpha 多样性的影响与第一代暴露时相反，并且观察到微生物群落组成的更多明显干扰。这些发现强调了 AS 在土壤中的生态风险，并提高了我们对 AS 对生物毒性影响的认识。
