Cytotoxicity and behavior of polystyrene latex nanoparticles to budding yeast

Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems

“…In soils many hydrophobic and amphiphilic compounds also regulate species communication and ecosystem processes. For instance, hydrophobins are amphiphilic proteins ubiquitous in soils that are secreted by fungi (Rillig, 2005 (Steinmetz et al, 2016), ingestion by terrestrial and continental birds (Gil-Delgado et al, 2017;Holland et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2016), reduction in growth of earthworms (Lwanga et al, 2016), lethal toxicity to fungi (Miyazaki et al, 2014(Miyazaki et al, , 2015Nomura et al, 2016), mammal lung inflammation (Hamoir et al, 2003;Oberdorster, 2000;Schmid & Stoeger, 2016) and broad cytotoxicity (Forte et al, 2016;Kato et al, 2003) of nanoplastics [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] stability, with direct potential consequences for soil erosion and biogeochemical cycles (Rillig, 2005). It was suggested that microplastics might present distinct sorption properties for soil inorganic elements (Hodson, Duffus-Hodson, Clark, Prendergast-Miller, & Thorpe, 2017), and laboratory results suggest that hydrophobins play a role in the protection against nanoplastic toxicity to filamentous fungi (Nomura et al, 2016).…”

“…Carboxyl (COOH) and amino (NH 2 ) terminated or lecithin coated polystyrene beads yield nanoparticles with diverse cellular fate, which influences the toxicity mechanism. Reported processes (Kato et al, 2003;Miyazaki et al, 2014Miyazaki et al, , 2015Syberg et al, 2015) do not fully explain toxicity and uptake. Further mechanisms await discovery [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] 2014; Nomura et al, 2016).…”

“… : Microplastics as trigger of combined physical or chemical‐like effects. Soil biogeochemistry related to agricultural mulching (Steinmetz et al., ), ingestion by terrestrial and continental birds (Gil‐Delgado et al., ; Holland et al., ; Zhao et al., ), reduction in growth of earthworms (Lwanga et al., ), lethal toxicity to fungi (Miyazaki et al., , ; Nomura et al., ), mammal lung inflammation (Hamoir et al., ; Oberdorster, ; Schmid & Stoeger, ) and broad cytotoxicity (Forte et al., ; Kato et al., ) of nanoplastics [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…Polystyrene nanoparticles (44 nm and 100 nm) were readily taken up by gastric adenocarcinoma cells likely via an energy dependent mechanism of internalization and a clathrin‐mediated endocytosis (Forte et al., ). Uptake of nanoplastics by fungi seems to be less related to endocytic processes and more associated to metabolic rates (respiration), membrane charge and differences between intra‐ and extracellular environments, osmotic pressure, and the hydrophobicity of cell walls (Miyazaki, Kuriyama, Tokumoto, Konishi, & Nomura, ; Miyazaki et al., ; Nomura et al., ). The uptake of nanoplastics through chitin‐rich fungi cell walls highlights their capacity of crossing important impermeable barriers for many other toxics.…”

Microplastics in Biota

“…The microplastic bioaccumulation may be ubiquitous in terrestrial species, even in organisms that do not "ingest" their food. It has been reported that microplastics smaller than 0.5 μm may also accumulate in yeasts and filamentous fungi (Nomura et al 2016;Miyazaki et al 2015). This suggests possible aggregation or acceleration of microplastics in the soil-detritus food web, which may be among the most extended food chains on Earth.…”