Shim Buom Sup, Yoon Hae Min, An Jun-Hyeon, Chen Qiqing, Kim Gil Jung, Lee Jae-Seong, Park Heum Gi, Lee Young Hwan
Department of Marine Ecology and Environment, College of Life Sciences, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, South Korea.
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
Aquat Toxicol. 2025 Dec;289:107579. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2025.107579. Epub 2025 Sep 18.
Microplastic fibers (MPFs) are the most prevalent type of microplastics in freshwater environments. However, although the effects of plastic pollution on various aquatic species have been extensively studied, the underlying mechanisms of the intergenerational effects of MPFs on aquatic organisms remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the multi- and transgenerational toxicity of MPFs in Daphnia magna over three generations. Our findings revealed that MPFs exposure negatively affects reproduction and molting frequency across generations. Notably, the transgenerational groups exhibited reproductive impairments and reduced molting frequency in the F1 and F2 generations (F1T and F2T), despite never being directly exposed to MPFs. Furthermore, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing revealed that these transgenerational adverse effects are associated with differential DNA methylation patterns in specific genes, suggesting that MPFs may threaten Daphnia populations through epigenetic modifications. Collectively, our findings provide valuable insights into the intergenerational toxicity of MPFs and the underlying molecular mechanisms driving these responses.
微塑料纤维（MPFs）是淡水环境中最普遍的微塑料类型。然而，尽管塑料污染对各种水生物种的影响已得到广泛研究，但MPFs对水生生物的代际影响的潜在机制仍知之甚少。在此，我们研究了MPFs在大型溞三代中的多代和跨代毒性。我们的研究结果表明，暴露于MPFs会对各代的繁殖和蜕皮频率产生负面影响。值得注意的是，跨代组在F1和F2代（F1T和F2T）中表现出繁殖障碍和蜕皮频率降低，尽管它们从未直接接触过MPFs。此外，全基因组亚硫酸氢盐测序表明，这些跨代不良影响与特定基因的DNA甲基化模式差异有关，这表明MPFs可能通过表观遗传修饰威胁大型溞种群。总的来说，我们的研究结果为MPFs的代际毒性以及驱动这些反应的潜在分子机制提供了有价值的见解。
