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Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics reduces bacterial and fungal biomass in microfabricated soil models

Mafla-Endara, Paola M LU ; Meklesh, Viktoriia LU ; Beech, Jason P LU ; Ohlsson, Pelle LU orcid ; Pucetaite, Milda LU and Hammer, Edith C LU (2023) In Science of the Total Environment 904.
Abstract

Nanoplastics have been proven to induce toxicity in diverse organisms, yet their effect on soil microbes like bacteria and fungi remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we used micro-engineered soil models to investigate the effect of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres on Pseudomonas putida and Coprinopsis cinerea. Specifically, we explored the effects of increasing concentrations of 60 nm carboxylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) coated nanospheres (0, 0.5, 2, and 10 mg/L) on these bacterial and fungal model organisms respectively, over time. We found that both microorganisms could disperse through the PS solution, but long-distance dispersal was reduced by high concentrations. Microbial biomass decreased in all treatments, in which... (More)

Nanoplastics have been proven to induce toxicity in diverse organisms, yet their effect on soil microbes like bacteria and fungi remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we used micro-engineered soil models to investigate the effect of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres on Pseudomonas putida and Coprinopsis cinerea. Specifically, we explored the effects of increasing concentrations of 60 nm carboxylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) coated nanospheres (0, 0.5, 2, and 10 mg/L) on these bacterial and fungal model organisms respectively, over time. We found that both microorganisms could disperse through the PS solution, but long-distance dispersal was reduced by high concentrations. Microbial biomass decreased in all treatments, in which bacteria showed a linear dose response with the strongest effect at 10 mg/L concentration, and fungi showed a non-linear response with the strongest effect at 2 mg/L concentration. At the highest nanoplastics concentration, the first colonizing fungal hyphae adsorbed most of the PS nanospheres present in their vicinity, in a process that we termed the 'vacuum cleaner effect'. As a result, the toxicity effect of the original treatment on subsequently growing fungal hyphae was reduced to a growth level indistinguishable from the control. We did not find evidence that nanoplastics are able to penetrate bacterial nor fungal cell walls. Overall, our findings provide evidence that nanoplastics can cause a direct negative effect on soil microbes and highlight the need for further studies that can explain how the microbial stress response might affect soil functions.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science of the Total Environment
volume
904
article number
166503
pages
13 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85169589598
  • pmid:37633381
ISSN
1879-1026
DOI
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166503
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.
id
2213faf4-ec0a-44e1-a049-5ff77139332a
date added to LUP
2023-08-29 15:19:40
date last changed
2024-04-20 02:10:01
@article{2213faf4-ec0a-44e1-a049-5ff77139332a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Nanoplastics have been proven to induce toxicity in diverse organisms, yet their effect on soil microbes like bacteria and fungi remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we used micro-engineered soil models to investigate the effect of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres on Pseudomonas putida and Coprinopsis cinerea. Specifically, we explored the effects of increasing concentrations of 60 nm carboxylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) coated nanospheres (0, 0.5, 2, and 10 mg/L) on these bacterial and fungal model organisms respectively, over time. We found that both microorganisms could disperse through the PS solution, but long-distance dispersal was reduced by high concentrations. Microbial biomass decreased in all treatments, in which bacteria showed a linear dose response with the strongest effect at 10 mg/L concentration, and fungi showed a non-linear response with the strongest effect at 2 mg/L concentration. At the highest nanoplastics concentration, the first colonizing fungal hyphae adsorbed most of the PS nanospheres present in their vicinity, in a process that we termed the 'vacuum cleaner effect'. As a result, the toxicity effect of the original treatment on subsequently growing fungal hyphae was reduced to a growth level indistinguishable from the control. We did not find evidence that nanoplastics are able to penetrate bacterial nor fungal cell walls. Overall, our findings provide evidence that nanoplastics can cause a direct negative effect on soil microbes and highlight the need for further studies that can explain how the microbial stress response might affect soil functions.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mafla-Endara, Paola M and Meklesh, Viktoriia and Beech, Jason P and Ohlsson, Pelle and Pucetaite, Milda and Hammer, Edith C}},
  issn         = {{1879-1026}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Science of the Total Environment}},
  title        = {{Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics reduces bacterial and fungal biomass in microfabricated soil models}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166503}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166503}},
  volume       = {{904}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}