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Exposure of polystyrene microplastics induces oxidative stress and physiological defects in Drosophila melanogaster
Summary
Researchers used fruit flies as a model organism to study the effects of polystyrene microplastics and found that dietary exposure caused significant oxidative stress at both tested concentrations. The microplastics impaired climbing ability in adult flies and disrupted normal development patterns during the pupal stage. The study suggests that microplastic ingestion can trigger oxidative damage and physiological defects even in relatively simple organisms.
Background: Microplastics are emerging contaminants in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Here, we used the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as model organism to study the adverse effects of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs). Methods: The computational study of styrene-protein interactome revealed enrichment of oxidative stress related pathways. Therefore, we tested the in-silico data by analysing the toxicity of PS-MPs via dietary exposures to 5g/l and 10 g/l doses on Drosophila melanogaster. Results: At both of these doses there was significant increase in oxidative stress as revealed by lipid peroxidase assay. Furthermore, PS-MPs significantly reduced climbing ability of adult flies and distribution pattern of pupal positioning during development. Conclusion: Overall, dietary exposures of PS-MPs caused toxicity in the fruit flies. This study establishes a baseline understanding of the impacts of PS-MPs to the fruit fly and motivates the need for further work focusing on naturally weathered plastic debris.
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