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Synergistic effects of nanoplastics and graphene oxides on microbe-driven litter decomposition in streams
Summary
Researchers ran a controlled aquatic experiment combining nanoplastics and graphene oxide to study their effects on leaf litter decomposition, finding that the combination altered bacterial diversity, boosted certain enzymatic activities, and produced time-dependent effects—initially inhibiting then promoting decomposition—with bacteria more affected than fungi.
The increasing production and release of plastics and graphene nanomaterials pose risks to the ecological environment. However, little is known regarding the interactive effects of nanoplastics (NPs) and graphene oxide (GO) on ecological processes in aquatic ecosystems. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an indoor experiment to investigate the effect of NPs and GO alone, as well as their combined effects on litter decomposition and associated microbial community structure and function in streams. The combined treatments with GO and NPs significantly increased the relative abundance of Enterobacter (47.42-61.72 %), and the activities of leucine arylamidase and cellobiose hydrolase. Specifically, the combination of GO and NPs exerted a stronger impact on bacterial α-diversity and degradation function than on fungi, challenging the popular view. Importantly, this combination of NPs and GO inhibited litter decomposition at 5 days but promoted it at 40 days, indicating a time-dependent effect. Structural equation modeling revealed that NPs, GO, and their combined effects promoted litter carbon loss through direct breakdown and indirectly increased bacterial diversity and extracellular enzyme activities related to carbon cycling and depolymerisation. The results obtained in this study highlight the importance of considering the characteristics of pollutants interacting with NPs and their time-dependent effects when evaluating the ecotoxicological effects of NPs in aquatic ecosystems.