Polystyrene microplastics induced male reproductive toxicity and transgenerational effects in freshwater prawn
2022
Sun, Shengming | Jin, Yiting | Luo, Penghui | Shi, Xiaotao
Microplastics have become pervasive environmental pollutants, especially in freshwater rivers and lakes. However, how freshwater prawns' reproductive system is affected by polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) remains incompletely understood. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the effect of PS-MPs on the male reproductive system and offspring larval immunity in oriental river prawn. Acute exposure to PS-MPs decreased the survival rate and heart rate of prawn larvae. After chronic exposure to PS-MPs (2 and 20 mg/L) for four weeks, the oxidative stress generation in testis tissue indicated a negative impact on male prawn testicular function. PS-MPs disrupted testicular germ cell quality and caused sex hormone imbalance, leading to reduced hatching success and survival of F1 larvae, despite not being exposed to PS-MPs. Steroidogenic gene expression was altered and apoptosis-related genes had higher expression in the gonads after parental exposure to PS-MPs. Decreased immunity-related enzyme activities were observed in F1 larvae with/without continued PS-MPs exposure, compared with those in untreated prawns. A concentration-dependent increase in bioaccumulation of PS-MPs in different tissues of larval offspring was observed. Thus, PS-MPs had multiple effects on male reproductive dysfunction and transgenerational toxicity in prawns. Our findings provide a novel insight into the reproductive toxicity mechanism of microplastics in freshwater crustaceans.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]