Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on Daphnia-associated microbiomes in situ and in vitro

This study investigated how microplastic exposure alters the microbiome associated with Daphnia in freshwater, finding shifts in bacterial community composition that may affect host health and ecological function. The results suggest that microplastics can indirectly harm zooplankton by disrupting their microbial symbionts.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Exposure Across Trophic Levels: Effects on the Host Microbiota of Freshwater Organisms

Researchers investigated how microplastic exposure affects the gut bacteria communities of freshwater organisms including fish, invertebrates, and crustaceans. Microplastics—particularly when combined with pesticides—altered gut microbiota composition, which could impair digestion, immunity, and overall health of freshwater species.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic exposure across trophic levels: effects on the host–microbiota of freshwater organisms

Researchers examined how microplastic exposure across trophic levels affects the gut microbiota of freshwater organisms, finding that microplastics alter microbial community composition and that effects can transfer through food web interactions.

2022 Environmental Microbiome 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics diversify and reshape Daphnia microbiomes in parasite-infected and uninfected hosts

Scientists exposed water fleas (Daphnia magna) to polystyrene nanoplastics of two sizes, with and without a yeast parasite infection, and analyzed changes in their gut and body microbiomes. The smallest nanoplastics at the highest concentration caused the most dramatic shifts in bacterial communities, with effects that exceeded those caused by the parasite alone. The results suggest that nanoplastic pollution could fundamentally reshape the beneficial microbes that aquatic organisms depend on for their health.

2025 Environmental Pollution 2 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

The effect of microplastics on Daphnia fitness – systematic review and meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis pools data from multiple studies to assess how micro and nanoplastic exposure affects Daphnia, a key freshwater organism used to gauge water health. The evidence shows that plastic particles can harm Daphnia reproduction, which is important because these organisms are a foundational part of freshwater food webs that ultimately connect to human food and water sources.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Exposure Across Trophic Levels: Effects on the Host-microbiota of Freshwater Organisms

Researchers found that exposure to 1 µm microplastic beads and the pesticide deltamethrin caused carry-over reductions in microbiome diversity and abundance across a three-level freshwater food chain of daphnids, damselfly larvae, and dragonfly larvae.

2022 Research Square (Research Square) 2 citations
Review Tier 2

Ecotoxicology of microplastics in Daphnia: A review focusing on microplastic properties and multiscale attributes of Daphnia

This review synthesizes research on how microplastics affect Daphnia, a key organism in aquatic food webs, across individual, population, and community levels. Researchers found that the toxicity of microplastics to Daphnia depends heavily on the physical and chemical properties of the particles, and that combined exposure with other pollutants can produce more severe effects. The study highlights Daphnia as an important indicator species for understanding how microplastic pollution cascades through aquatic ecosystems.

2022 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 71 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on key reproductive and biochemical endpoints of the freshwater microcrustacean Daphnia magna

Researchers studied how microplastics affect reproduction and biochemistry in the freshwater water flea Daphnia magna, a widely used indicator species. They found that microplastic exposure led to changes in reproductive output and altered key biochemical markers in these small crustaceans. The study suggests that even tiny plastic particles can disrupt important biological functions in freshwater organisms that form the base of aquatic food webs.

2024 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effects of microplastics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria on Daphnia magna growth and expression of functional genes

Researchers tested the combined effects of microplastics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria on tiny freshwater organisms called Daphnia magna. They found that polystyrene microplastics colonized with resistant Shigella bacteria were ingested and trapped in the organisms' intestines, causing changes in body size, reproduction, and gene expression. The study suggests that microplastics carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria may pose amplified ecological risks to aquatic food chains.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Reproduction and Growth of Freshwater Live Feeds Daphnia magna

Researchers found that microplastic exposure negatively affected reproduction and juvenile growth in Daphnia magna, a key freshwater zooplankton species, with effects worsening at higher concentrations and posing risks for aquatic food chains.

2022 Fishes 35 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

The effect of microplastics on Daphnia fitness – Systematic review and meta‐analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect the health and reproduction of Daphnia, a key freshwater organism used in toxicity testing. The findings confirm that plastic particles can harm these organisms, which is significant because Daphnia are a foundational species in freshwater ecosystems connected to human water supplies.

2024 Freshwater Biology 9 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

The effect of microplastics on Daphnia fitness – systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examines how micro and nanoplastic particles affect the health and reproduction of Daphnia, a tiny freshwater organism commonly used as an indicator of water quality. The findings matter because Daphnia sit at the base of many aquatic food chains, so harm to these organisms from plastic pollution can ripple upward through ecosystems and ultimately affect the fish and water we depend on.

2023
Article Tier 2

How microplastics influence the health and microbiota of aquatic invertebrates: A review

This review examines how microplastics affect the health and microbiota of aquatic invertebrates, an area that has received less attention than fish studies. Researchers summarize evidence showing that microplastics cause toxicity at biological and molecular levels, alter microbial communities associated with invertebrate hosts, and interact with climate change and other pollutants to produce combined effects. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps and proposes future research directions for understanding microplastic impacts on aquatic ecosystems.

2025 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in market bivalves from South Korea

Researchers investigated the effects of polystyrene microplastics on the freshwater cladoceran Daphnia magna, a key species in aquatic food webs. They found that microplastic exposure impaired reproduction, reduced growth, and caused oxidative stress even at relatively low concentrations. The study highlights that these tiny plastic particles can harm small freshwater organisms that play a critical role in maintaining healthy aquatic ecosystems.

2018 Environmental Pollution 475 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction and transmission of daphnia microbiome to MP-containing aggregates

Researchers created environmentally realistic aquatic aggregates by combining natural particles with micro- and nanoplastics at varying ratios (0-10% MNP by mass) and total suspended solid concentrations (0.1-10 mg/L), then allowed Daphnia magna to interact with the aggregates for 72 hours before analyzing aggregate size and associated bacterial communities via 16S rRNA sequencing. The study investigated whether microplastic-containing aggregates select for distinct microbial communities, including potential pathogens, compared to natural particle aggregates.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

The effect of microplastics on the interspecific competition of Daphnia

Researchers investigated how microplastic presence affects interspecific competition between Daphnia species, finding that microplastics can alter competitive outcomes and shift population dynamics between coexisting zooplankton species.

2022 Environmental Pollution 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic adverse effects of microfibers and freshwater acidification on host-microbiota interactions in the water flea Daphnia magna

Researchers investigated how microfiber pollution combined with freshwater acidification affects the water flea Daphnia magna. They found that acidic conditions caused the organisms to ingest more microfibers, leading to reduced reproduction, slower growth, and shifts in the balance of gut bacteria toward more harmful species. The study demonstrates that climate-related water acidification can worsen the biological impacts of microplastic pollution.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

The thermal regime modifies the response of aquatic keystone species Daphnia to microplastics: Evidence from population fitness, accumulation, histopathological analysis and candidate gene expression

Researchers found that temperature plays a key role in how toxic microplastics are to the water flea Daphnia magna. Microplastic exposure caused increased mortality, reduced reproduction, and slower population growth, with these negative effects becoming much more pronounced at higher temperatures. The study suggests that warming water temperatures due to climate change may amplify the harmful impacts of microplastic pollution on aquatic ecosystems.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 67 citations
Review Tier 2

Review on the ecotoxicological impacts of plastic pollution on the freshwater invertebrate Daphnia

This review examines the ecotoxicological impacts of plastic pollution on the freshwater invertebrate Daphnia, a widely used model organism. Researchers highlight that microplastics affect Daphnia reproduction, growth, and survival, and that chemicals leaching from plastics may contribute additional toxic effects that transfer through food webs.

2022 Environmental Toxicology 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi-omics characterisation of Daphnia magna exposed to PFAS and microplastics: transcriptome and gut microbiome datasets

Researchers generated a multi-omics dataset from Daphnia magna exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of PFOS, PFOA, and PET microplastics, integrating gut microbiome 16S rRNA profiling and whole-organism transcriptomes to enable systems-level investigation of host-microbiome interactions under complex contaminant stress.

2025
Meta Analysis Tier 1

The complexity of micro- and nanoplastic research in the genus Daphnia – A systematic review of study variability and a meta-analysis of immobilization rates

This meta-analysis examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect Daphnia, a tiny water creature widely used to test the toxicity of pollutants. The research found that plastics can harm Daphnia survival and reproduction, which matters because these organisms are at the base of freshwater food chains that ultimately connect to human water and food sources.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial communities on microplastics from seawater and mussels: Insights from the northern Adriatic Sea

Researchers studied the microbial communities that colonize microplastics in seawater and mussels from the northern Adriatic Sea, including the first-ever genetic sequencing of a microplastic particle recovered from inside a mussel. They found that the microbes on particles from both environments were similar, suggesting a shared colonization pattern. The presence of potentially harmful bacteria like Campylobacter on some particles raises questions about microplastics serving as vehicles for pathogen transfer in the marine food chain.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic ingestion by Daphnia magna and its enhancement on algal growth

Researchers examined microplastic ingestion by the freshwater zooplankton Daphnia magna and its downstream effects on algal growth, finding that the organisms readily ingested microparticles. The study also observed that microplastic exposure indirectly enhanced algal growth, possibly by reducing grazing pressure, suggesting that plastic pollution could alter freshwater food web dynamics.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 398 citations
Article Tier 2

Epigenetic and Gene Expression Responses in Daphnia magna to Polyethylene and Polystyrene Microplastics

Researchers exposed water fleas (Daphnia magna) to polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics and examined changes at the genetic and molecular level. They found that the microplastics altered DNA methylation patterns and disrupted the expression of genes involved in reproduction and stress response. The study provides evidence that microplastic exposure can cause changes beyond physical harm, affecting organisms at the epigenetic level.

2025 Preprints.org 3 citations