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Energy metabolism response induced by microplastic for marine dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi
Summary
Researchers examined how different sizes and types of plastic particles affect the energy metabolism of the marine dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi. The study found that smaller polystyrene particles caused greater damage to cell membrane potential, increased polysaccharide content, and weakened ATPase activity, indicating that nano-scale plastics have a more pronounced impact on cellular energy metabolism than larger microplastics.
Microplastic contaminations threaten the entire marine ecosystem and cause severe ecological stress. This study explored the energy metabolism change of Karenia mikimotoi under exposure to nanoplastics (NPs) and microplastics (MPs) (65 nm, 100 nm, and 1 μm polystyrene (PS), and 100 nm polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)) at a concentration of 10 mg L. Membrane potential, esterase activity, polysaccharide content, and ATPase activity were detected to assess the energy metabolism of K. mikimotoi under MPs/NPs exposure. Transcriptome and metabolomic analyses were used to investigate the intrinsic mechanisms of energy metabolism changes. Smaller PS particles caused greater damage to the cell membrane potential, increased the polysaccharide content, and resulted in a heavier weakening of the ATPase enzymatic activity in K. mikimotoi cells, suggesting that smaller-sized PS had more influence on esterase activity and energy metabolism than the bigger-sized PS. The results evidenced that energy metabolism relates to the size and type of MPs/NPs, and nano-scale plastic particles could induce greater metabolic changes.