Antagonistic and synergistic effects of warming and microplastics on microalgae: Case study of the red tide species Prorocentrum donghaiense

Bibliometric network analysis has revealed that the widespread distribution of microplastics (MPs) has detrimental effects on marine organisms; however, the combined effects of MPs and climate change (e.g., warming) is not well understood. In this study, Prorocentrum donghaiense, a typical red tide species in the East China Sea, was exposed to different MP concentrations (0, 1, 5, and 10 mg L) and temperatures (16, 22, and 28 °C) for 7 days to investigate the combined effects of MPs and simulated ocean warming by measuring different physiological parameters, such as cell growth, pigment contents (chlorophyll a and carotenoid), relative electron transfer rate (rETR), reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The results demonstrated that MPs significantly decreased cell growth, pigment contents, and rETR, but increased the MDA, ROS, and SOD levels for all MP treatments at low temperature (16 °C). However, high temperatures (22 and 28 °C) increased the pigment contents and rETR, but decreased the SOD and MDA levels. Positive and negative effects of high temperatures (22 or 28 °C) were observed at low (1 and 5 mg L) and high MP (10 mg L) concentrations, respectively, indicating the antagonistic and synergistic effects of combined warming and MP pollution. These results imply that the effects of MPs on microalgae will likely not be substantial in future warming scenarios if MP concentrations are controlled at a certain level. These findings expand the current knowledge of microalgae in response to increasing MP pollution in future warming scenarios.