Exposure to polystyrene microplastic beads causes sex-specific toxic effects in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 204 - 11
• Main Authors: El Kholy, Samar, Al Naggar, Yahya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 05.01.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/601; 704/172; Animals; Apoptosis; Digestive System; Drosophila melanogaster; Emission measurements; Female; Food; Food intake; Humanities and Social Sciences; Insects; Male; Microplastics; Microplastics - toxicity; Midgut; multidisciplinary; Plastics - toxicity; Polystyrene; Polystyrenes - toxicity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Starvation; Toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-27284-7

The toxicity of MPs on aquatic creatures has been extensively studied, but little attention was paid to terrestrial organisms. To fill this gab, we conducted a series of experiments using Drosophila as a model organism to understand whether exposure to different concentrations (0.005, 0.05, 0.5 µg/ml) of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) beads (2 µm in size) can impact flies feeding activity, digestion and excretion. The ability of flies to distinguish between normal and PS-MPs treated food media was tested first, and then we evaluated the effects of a 7-day short-term exposure to PS-MPs on food intake, mortality, starvation resistance, fecal pellet count, and the cellular structure of mid gut cells. The results revealed that flies can really differentiate and ignore MPs-treated food. We discovered sex-specific effects, with male flies being more sensitive to PS-MPs, with all males dying after 14 days when exposed to 0.5 µg/ml of PS-MPs, whereas female flies survived more. All male flies exposed to PS-MPs died after 24 h of starvation. Midgut cells showed concentration-dependent necrosis and apoptosis in response to PS-MPs. Our findings provide new insights into MPs toxicity on terrestrial organisms and giving a warning that management measures against MPs emission must be taken.