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Responses of earthworm Metaphire vulgaris gut microbiota to arsenic and nanoplastics contamination
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Researchers found that co-exposure to nanoplastics and arsenic significantly altered earthworm gut microbiota composition, with nanoplastics influencing arsenic biotransformation in the gut, revealing previously unknown interactions between these two soil contaminants.
The growing contamination of arsenic and plastics has severely effects on the soil fauna health, including shifts of gut microbiota community. A few studies have focused on effects of microplastics and metal(loid) in soil and fauna gut microbiome. However, the environmental effect of nanoplastics and arsenic on the earthworm gut microbiota, especially on arsenic biotransformation in the gut, remain largely unknown. Here, a microcosm study was performed to explore the effects of nanoplastics and arsenic on the microbiota characteristics in earthworm Metaphire vulgaris gut using Illumina high throughput sequencing, and to investigate changes in the gut microbiota-mediated arsenic biotransformation genes (ABGs) by using high-throughput quantitative PCR. Our results demonstrated that the concentration of arsenic in the earthworm body tissues after exposure to arsenic and nanoplastics was significantly lower from that with arsenic alone exposure. Moreover, the clearly different bacterial community was observed in the soil compared with the earthworm gut, which was dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes at phylum level. Arsenic exposure significantly disturbed bacterial community structure in the earthworm gut, but exposure to nanoplastics did not induce gut microbiota changes. More interestingly, nanoplastics can relieve adverse effect of arsenic on the gut microbiota possibly by adsorbing arsenic. In addition, a total of 16 ABGs were detected, and predominant genes involved in arsenic reduction and transport process were observed in the earthworm guts. In short, this study provides a new picture of the effects of nanoplastics and arsenic on the gut microbiota and arsenic biotransformation in soil fauna gut.
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Accumulation of microplastics and Tcep pollutants in agricultural soil: Exploring the links between metabolites and gut microbiota in earthworm homeostasis
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Researchers investigated the co-occurrence of polyethylene microplastics and the flame retardant TCEP in agricultural soils and their combined effects on earthworm health. The study found that co-exposure disrupted earthworm gut microbiota and metabolic homeostasis, suggesting that the interaction between microplastics and chemical additives in agricultural soil may pose greater ecological risks than either contaminant alone.
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