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Papers
63 resultsShowing papers from Università degli Studi della Tuscia
ClearAdvocating microbial diversity conservation in Antarctica
This review highlights how human activities, tourism, and climate change are threatening Antarctica's unique microbial ecosystems, with microplastics now reaching even this remote continent. While focused on conservation, the study underscores that microplastic pollution is truly global in scale, contaminating environments far from any source of plastic production.
Advancing river monitoring using image-based techniques: challenges and opportunities
This review examines advances in using cameras, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence to monitor rivers, covering applications from flood tracking to water quality assessment. While not focused on microplastics directly, these image-based monitoring tools could be adapted to detect and track visible plastic pollution in waterways. Improved river monitoring technology is an important step toward understanding and reducing the sources of microplastic contamination in freshwater systems.
Microplastics in the diet of Hermetia illucens: Implications for development and midgut bacterial and fungal microbiota
Researchers fed black soldier fly larvae diets containing PVC microplastics at various concentrations and found the insects could tolerate even high levels (20% of diet) without significant increases in death rates. The larvae ingested and reduced the size of the plastic particles, and while their overall gut microbial diversity remained stable, certain bacterial and fungal populations shifted. This suggests black soldier flies could potentially help process plastic waste, though the safety of using these insects as animal feed after plastic exposure needs further study.
A metabolomics perspective on the effect of environmental micro and nanoplastics on living organisms: A review
This review examines how scientists use metabolomics, the study of small molecules produced by cellular processes, to understand the toxic effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on living organisms. The research shows that these plastic particles disrupt metabolism in consistent ways across species, affecting energy production, fat processing, and amino acid pathways. These shared metabolic disruptions across different organisms suggest that microplastics could cause similar metabolic problems in humans.
Microplastics reach the brain and interfere with honey bee cognition
Scientists fed honey bees microplastics at concentrations found in the environment and discovered that the particles reached the bees' brains by crossing the blood-brain barrier. The microplastics impaired the bees' ability to taste sugar, learn, and form memories, with polystyrene having the most severe effects. This research is concerning because it shows microplastics can cross into the brain of a living organism and directly affect cognitive function, raising questions about similar effects in other species.
Unravelling the microplastic menace: Different polymers additively increase bee vulnerability
Researchers exposed bees to two common types of microplastics, both individually and combined, and found that the mixture caused additive harmful effects on survival and behavior. The microplastics impaired the bees' ability to learn and remember, which is critical for finding food and navigating. Since bees are essential pollinators for food crops, microplastic pollution threatening bee health could have indirect consequences for human food production.
Sex-specific effects of psychoactive pollution on behavioral individuality and plasticity in fish
Researchers exposed guppies to the antidepressant fluoxetine across multiple generations and found that the drug altered behavioral individuality and flexibility differently in males versus females. Males showed reduced variation in activity levels, while females maintained more behavioral diversity but changed their stress responses. The study suggests that pharmaceutical pollution in waterways may subtly reshape animal behavior in ways that differ between sexes, with potential consequences for population adaptability.
Assessing the effects of a commercial fungicide and an herbicide, alone and in combination, on Apis mellifera: Insights from biomarkers and cognitive analysis
Researchers tested the combined effects of a commercial fungicide and herbicide on honey bees and found that the mixture was more harmful than either chemical alone. The pesticide combination impaired the bees' cognitive abilities, disrupted detoxification enzymes, and increased oxidative stress markers. The study suggests that current risk assessments, which typically evaluate pesticides individually, may underestimate the real-world dangers bees face from chemical mixtures.
Unearthing soil-plant-microbiota crosstalk: Looking back to move forward
This review examines the complex interactions between soil, plants, and microbiota, tracing the evolution of soil fertility assessment from crop performance metrics to modern microbiome-based approaches. Researchers emphasize that soil quality must be evaluated by combining physical, chemical, and biological parameters, and that understanding microbial community dynamics is essential for sustainable agriculture and ecosystem health.
Exposure to the Natural Compound Climacostol Induces Cell Damage and Oxidative Stress in the Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster
Researchers tested the natural compound climacostol, produced by a single-celled organism, on fruit flies to evaluate its effects on a living system. They found that the compound caused significant harm during larval development and triggered oxidative stress and cell damage in adult flies. The study provides important safety data for this compound, which has previously shown potential as an antimicrobial and anti-tumor agent in laboratory settings.
Polystyrene nanoplastics as an ecotoxicological hazard: cellular and transcriptomic evidences on marine and freshwater in vitro teleost models
Researchers tested the effects of two sizes of polystyrene nanoplastics on fish cell lines from both freshwater and marine species. They found that smaller 20-nanometer particles were significantly more toxic than larger 80-nanometer ones, causing cell death through apoptosis and disrupting multiple biological pathways. The study provides evidence that nanoplastic size is a key factor in determining toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Impact of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) microparticles on soil physical-chemical properties, CO2 emissions, and microbial community in a two-year field trial
Researchers conducted a two-year field trial examining how high-density polyethylene microparticles at different concentrations affect soil properties, carbon dioxide emissions, and microbial communities. They measured changes in soil aggregate stability, chemical properties, and microbial diversity over time in treated versus control plots. The study provides field-scale evidence on how microplastic contamination influences soil health and function over extended periods.
Microbial Bioindicators for Monitoring the Impact of Emerging Contaminants on Soil Health in the European Framework
This study analyzed soil samples from across EU countries to investigate how microplastics may help spread antibiotic resistance. Researchers found that bacterial communities on microplastic surfaces can harbor antibiotic resistance genes, and the plastisphere environment facilitates the transfer of these genes between microbes. The findings suggest microplastics in soil could serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance, posing potential risks to human health.
Spatial variability and influence of biological parameters on microplastic ingestion by Boops boops (L.) along the Italian coasts (Western Mediterranean Sea)
Researchers analyzed microplastic ingestion by Boops boops (bogue fish) across multiple Italian coastal sites in the Western Mediterranean, finding that ingestion rates varied by body size, season, and location, and that this widely consumed fish is a suitable bioindicator for microplastic monitoring.
Impact of PET micro/nanoplastics on the symbiotic system Azolla filiculoides-Trichormus azollae
Researchers exposed the symbiotic fern-cyanobacterium system Azolla filiculoides-Trichormus azollae to environmentally relevant concentrations of PET micro-nanoplastics for ten days. While the plastic particles did not cause visible toxicity or growth problems in the fern, they did reduce chlorophyll content and alter some physiological responses. The study suggests that even when outward signs of damage are absent, microplastics can subtly affect plant photosynthetic systems.
Unravelling the microplastic menace: different polymers work in synergy to increase bee vulnerability
Researchers studied the effects of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics, both individually and combined, on honeybees. They found that the mixture of different microplastic polymers produced synergistic harmful effects that were worse than either polymer alone, including increased mortality and disrupted gut microbiota. The study highlights that real-world microplastic exposure, which typically involves mixtures of polymers, may pose greater risks to pollinators than single-polymer laboratory studies suggest.
Green and Scalable Preparation of Colloidal Suspension of Lignin Nanoparticles and Its Application in Eco-friendly Sunscreen Formulations
Researchers developed a scalable, solvent-free method to produce lignin nanoparticles and demonstrated their use as a natural UV-absorbing ingredient in eco-friendly sunscreen formulations, offering a biodegradable alternative to synthetic UV filters.
Nano-Structured Lignin as Green Antioxidant and UV Shielding Ingredient for Sunscreen Applications
This review covered the use of lignin nanoparticles as green antioxidants and UV-shielding agents in sunscreen and antiaging cosmetics, highlighting the enhanced properties of nanoscale lignin derived from pulp and paper industry waste.
Microplastics uptake and egestion dynamics in Pacific oysters, Magallana gigas (Thunberg, 1793), under controlled conditions
Pacific oysters were exposed to polystyrene microplastics under controlled conditions to characterize uptake, egestion via faeces, and rejection via pseudofaeces, finding that ingestion increased with MP concentration while pseudofaeces was the dominant clearance route. The study quantifies the dynamics of MP retention in a commercially important bivalve and highlights the potential for MP entry into the human food chain.
Microplastics reach the brain and interfere with honey bee cognition
Researchers found that microplastics reach honey bee brains and impair cognitive function, with bees exposed to mixed polymer combinations showing disrupted learning and memory abilities, demonstrating that plastic pollution poses a direct threat to pollinator health.
Frontiers in quantifying wildlife behavioural responses to chemical pollution
Researchers investigated how chemical pollution affects wildlife behavior, arguing that conventional study approaches are insufficient and calling for new frontiers in quantifying behavioral responses to contaminants in free-living animal populations.
Microplastic in an apex predator: evidence from Barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets in two sites with different levels of anthropization
Researchers found evidence of microplastic contamination in barn owl pellets collected from two sites with different levels of human activity, marking the first such study of its kind. Several polymer types were identified in the pellets, indicating that microplastics are moving through terrestrial food chains to reach apex predators. The findings suggest that even wildlife in relatively natural landscapes is exposed to microplastic pollution through their prey.
Revealing antagonistic interactions in the adverse effects of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics in bumblebees
Researchers exposed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics singly and in combination to assess sublethal effects on survival, feeding behavior, and memory. Single-type exposures reduced survival in a concentration-dependent manner but combined exposure showed antagonistic (no significant) survival effects; PMMA impaired memory while the mixture enhanced sucrose responsiveness, revealing complex interaction effects.
Antibiotic-driven shifts in bacterial dynamics of the polyethylene terephthalate and low density polyethylene plastisphere in wastewater treatment systems
Researchers studied how antibiotic exposure shifts the bacterial communities colonizing PET and LDPE microplastic surfaces in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants, finding that antibiotics altered plastisphere microbial composition and increased antibiotic resistance gene prevalence.