The impact of microplastics on tissue-specific gene expression in the tropical house cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus

Microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, resulting in animal exposure and consumption via food, water, and air. Animals that consume microplastics may suffer from physiological effects like immunotoxicity or mitochondrial dysfunction, but how specific tissues may differentially respond to plastic consumption is poorly understood, particularly in terrestrial insects. Here, we measured transcriptomic responses of tissues (midgut, hindgut, fat body and ovaries) to microplastic consumption in a generalist ground-dwelling insect, the tropical house cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus. Using this approach, we provide insights on how microplastics may impact specific organ systems. We generated a de novo transcriptome, a useful resource for further studies on this emerging model insect, that we then used to infer differential gene expression due to microplastic consumption in individual organs. Ingestion of microplastics elicited unique changes in gene expression depending on the tissue of focus, with notable differentially-expressed genes related to survival and stress pathways as well as those related to metabolism, immunity, and cancer.