Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 47, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2024 Jan 9;371. doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnae040.
Microplastic (MP) pollution constitutes an emerging type of pollution threatening both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The impact on aquatic ecosystems has been extensively studied, but the effect on terrestrial ecosystems and their inhabitants is mostly underexplored. In this study, we explored the effect of MP pollution on gut bacterial microbiome of endogeic (Aporrectodea caliginosa) and anecic (Lumbricus terrestris) earthworms. The experiments were performed in sandy soil with 0.2% of low-density polyethylene MPs (LDPE MPs). We observed that the endogeic earthworms had 100% survival, while anecic earthworms survived 25 days in the control (i.e. in absence of MPs) and 21 days in the treatment with LDPE MPs. The main driver of shifts in the diversity and composition of the bacterial communities in the gut of tested earthworms was the lifestyle of the worms, followed by the presence of MPs. The bacterial microbiome diversity was significantly different among the two types of earthworms, and the highest bacterial diversity was found in the gut of the endogeic earthworms. The effect of MPs on gut bacterial microbiome was clearly observed in the changes in the relative abundance of several phyla and families of the bacterial communities in both types of earthworms, although it was most evident in the anecic earthworms. The Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes were the main groups enhanced in the MP treatments, suggesting enrichment of the bacterial communities with potential plastic degraders.
微塑料（MP）污染是一种新兴的污染类型，对水生和陆地生态系统都构成了威胁。对水生生态系统的影响已经得到了广泛的研究，但对陆地生态系统及其居民的影响大多还未得到充分探索。在本研究中，我们探讨了 MP 污染对穴居（Aporrectodea caliginosa）和表栖（Lumbricus terrestris）蚯蚓肠道细菌微生物组的影响。实验在含有 0.2%低密度聚乙烯 MPs（LDPE MPs）的沙土中进行。我们观察到，穴居蚯蚓的存活率为 100%，而表栖蚯蚓在对照（即无 MPs）条件下可存活 25 天，在 LDPE MPs 处理下可存活 21 天。影响测试蚯蚓肠道细菌群落多样性和组成变化的主要因素是蚯蚓的生活方式，其次是 MPs 的存在。两种蚯蚓的肠道细菌微生物组多样性存在显著差异，其中穴居蚯蚓的肠道细菌多样性最高。在两种类型的蚯蚓中，MP 对肠道细菌微生物组的影响都明显体现在细菌群落的几个门和科的相对丰度的变化上，尽管在表栖蚯蚓中更为明显。放线菌门、变形菌门和厚壁菌门是在 MP 处理中增强的主要菌群，表明细菌群落中可能有潜在的塑料降解菌得到了富集。
