TY - JOUR
T1 - First evidence of molecular response of the shrimp Hippolyte inermis to biodegradable microplastics
AU - Amato, Amalia
AU - Esposito, Roberta
AU - Pinto, Bruno
AU - Viel, Thomas
AU - Glaviano, Francesca
AU - Cocca, Mariacristina
AU - Manfra, Loredana
AU - Libralato, Giovanni
AU - Aflalo, Eliahu D.
AU - Sagi, Amir
AU - Costantini, Maria
AU - Zupo, Valerio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025
PY - 2025/4/5
Y1 - 2025/4/5
N2 - The increasing demand for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics has propelled the interest in bioplastics. A few papers reported on the effects of plastics on crustaceans, but no indication about biodegradable polymers is available. Hippolyte inermis Leach, 1816 is a protandric shrimp commonly living on leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, in the Mediterranean Sea. This crustacean is typically chosen as a model to study sex differentiation processes. Here, we demonstrated its convenience as a model organism to study the effects of biodegradable polymers (BPs). Five BPs were studied: polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene succinate-co-butylene adipate (PBSA), polycaprolactone (PCL), poly-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHB) and polylactic acid (PLA). Larvae of H. inermis were exposed to three concentrations of each BP (1, 5 and 10 mg/L, respectively) for ten days. After exposure, the expression levels of eighteen genes involved in stress response and detoxification processes, retrieved from a H. inermis transcriptomic library, were validated by Real Time qPCR. This study is the first using a molecular approach to detect H. inermis responses to contaminants and in particular to biodegradable polymers, through the evaluation of functional gene's pathways.
AB - The increasing demand for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics has propelled the interest in bioplastics. A few papers reported on the effects of plastics on crustaceans, but no indication about biodegradable polymers is available. Hippolyte inermis Leach, 1816 is a protandric shrimp commonly living on leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, in the Mediterranean Sea. This crustacean is typically chosen as a model to study sex differentiation processes. Here, we demonstrated its convenience as a model organism to study the effects of biodegradable polymers (BPs). Five BPs were studied: polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene succinate-co-butylene adipate (PBSA), polycaprolactone (PCL), poly-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHB) and polylactic acid (PLA). Larvae of H. inermis were exposed to three concentrations of each BP (1, 5 and 10 mg/L, respectively) for ten days. After exposure, the expression levels of eighteen genes involved in stress response and detoxification processes, retrieved from a H. inermis transcriptomic library, were validated by Real Time qPCR. This study is the first using a molecular approach to detect H. inermis responses to contaminants and in particular to biodegradable polymers, through the evaluation of functional gene's pathways.
KW - Biodegradable polymers
KW - Crustaceans
KW - Gene pathaways
KW - Genes
KW - Plastics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214531837&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.137069
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.137069
M3 - Article
C2 - 39798304
AN - SCOPUS:85214531837
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 487
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
M1 - 137069
ER -