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Polystyrene nanoplastics change the functional traits of biofilm communities in freshwater environment revealed by GeoChip 5.0
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Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics altered the functional traits of freshwater biofilm communities, changing their structure, metabolic activities, and gene expression related to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling.
There is an increasing concern regarding the potential effects of nanoplastics (NPs) on freshwater ecosystems. Considering the functional values of biofilms in freshwater, knowledge on whether and to what extent NPs can influence the ecosystem processes of biofilms were still limited. Herein, the freshwater biofilms cultured in lab were exposed to 100 nm polystyrene NPs (PS-NPs) of different dosages (1 and 10 mg/L) for 14 days. Confocal laser scanning microscope observation indicated that biofilms were dominated by filamentous, and spiral algae species and the intensity of extracellular polymeric substances increased under PS-NPs exposure. GeoChip 5.0 analysis revealed that PS-NPs exposure triggered a significant increase in functional genes α diversity (p < 0.05) and altered biofilms' functional structure. Furthermore, the abundance of genes involved in the total carbon and nitrogen cycling were increased under PS-NPs exposure. The abundance of nitrogen fixation genes experienced the most pronounced increase (24.4%) under 1 mg/L PS-NPs treatment, consistent with the increase of ammonium in overlying water. Whereas antibiotic resistance genes and those related to photosynthetic pigments production were suppressed. These results provided direct evidence for PS-NPs' effects on the biofilm functions in terms of biogeochemical cycling, improving our understanding of the potentials of NPs on freshwater ecosystems.
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Nanoplastics were found to significantly alter the metabolic functions of freshwater biofilm microbial communities, as measured by BIOLOG ECO microplates, with effects varying by concentration and polymer type. The disruption of biofilm microbial metabolism by nanoplastics could have cascading effects on nutrient cycling in freshwater ecosystems.
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Researchers exposed freshwater mesocosms to polystyrene nanoplastics (80–500 nm) at 1 mg/L and found significant disruption of zooplankton and bacterial community structure, which altered carbon cycling processes — suggesting nanoplastics can impair the ecosystem functions that regulate freshwater carbon flux.
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How Microplastics Influence the Microbial Communities of Periphytic Biofilm Between the Paddy Soil and Water Interface: A Microcosm Study
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Researchers exposed paddy field periphytic biofilms to polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics and found that all three polymer types increased microbial biomass without altering biodiversity, while shifting microbial community composition and predicted functional traits like nitrogen cycling and plastic degradation in polymer-specific ways.
Acute effects of nanoplastics and microplastics on periphytic biofilms depending on particle size, concentration and surface modification
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Researchers tested the acute effects of polystyrene particles ranging from 100 nanometers to 9 micrometers on freshwater biofilms that are essential for nutrient cycling. They found that larger particles had negligible effects, but high concentrations of 100-nanometer particles significantly reduced chlorophyll content and enzyme activities related to carbon and nitrogen cycling. Positively charged nanoparticles were the most toxic, with the damage linked to oxidative stress from excess reactive oxygen species generation.
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