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Microplastics Change the Food Utilization of Filter-Feeding Fish via Gut Microbiota
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Researchers found that microplastic exposure changed the food utilization patterns of filter-feeding silver carp by altering their gut microbiota. After exposure, the fish shifted from primarily consuming phytoplankton to greater utilization of zooplankton, driven by microplastic-induced changes in gut bacterial communities that affected digestive enzyme gene expression, suggesting microplastics can disrupt aquatic food web dynamics.
Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, while their effects on filter-feeding fish are poorly understood. This study aims to explore how MPs change the feeding of planktivorous silver carp. After exposure to MPs, the utilization efficiency of zooplankton by carp increased from 28.45% to 38.63-40.20%, while that of phytoplankton decreased from 50.64% to 40.47-43.32%. MPs did not cause changes in the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities that carp consumed but altered its gut microbiota, leading to increased abundance of genes encoding proteases but decreased carbohydrase genes. Gut metabolomics further showed corresponding metabolic changes especially with increased levels of l-tyrosine, citrulline, succinic acid, and propionic acid, which are significantly correlated with the isotopic signatures of carp utilizing zooplankton. Germ-free zebrafish transplanted with feces of MPs-exposed carp showed metabolic changes like those of carp, verifying that the gut microbiota mediated the effects induced by MPs, while silver carp transplanted with feces of MPs-exposed carp exhibited increased protease activity and enhanced zooplankton utilization efficiency, confirming that MPs could alter its food utilization via gut microbiota. Our findings fill a knowledge gap regarding the ecological risk of MPs to the feeding of planktivorous fish, with potential cascading effects on aquatic ecosystems.
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Microplastics Changethe Food Utilization of Filter-FeedingFish via Gut Microbiota
AI summary Read the abstract
Silver carp exposed to microplastics showed a shift in food utilization — increasing zooplankton assimilation from 28% to 40% while decreasing phytoplankton utilization — mediated by changes in gut microbiota, suggesting MPs alter how filter-feeding fish process their food.
Multi-omics association pattern between gut microbiota and host metabolism of a filter-feeding fish in situ exposed to microplastics
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Scientists exposed filter-feeding fish to environmentally realistic levels of microplastics and found that the particles reshaped gut bacteria communities, which in turn altered the fish's liver metabolism through changes in amino acid processing. This gut-microbiome-to-organ connection matters because it shows microplastics may affect human health not just through direct toxicity but by disrupting the beneficial bacteria in our digestive systems.
Microplastic exposure across trophic levels: effects on the host–microbiota of freshwater organisms
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Researchers examined how microplastic exposure across trophic levels affects the gut microbiota of freshwater organisms, finding that microplastics alter microbial community composition and that effects can transfer through food web interactions.
Ingestion of microplastics by silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) larvae: Quantification of ingestion and assessment of microbiota dysbiosis
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Researchers quantitatively investigated how silver carp larvae ingest, accumulate, and excrete microplastics of different sizes for the first time. The study found that smaller microplastics were ingested more readily and excreted quickly, while larger particles tended to accumulate in the intestine, and the presence of food increased uptake of large microplastics. The ingested microplastics also altered intestinal microflora diversity, potentially affecting immune and metabolic functions in the fish.
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