Issue 2, 2024

Polystyrene microplastics interaction and influence on the growth kinetics and metabolism of tilapia gut probiotic Bacillus tropicus ACS1

Abstract

Gut probiotic bacteria play a significant role in the host health, immunity, and survival. In aquaculture, changes in the gut microbiome of fishes affect the overall productivity and product quality. In the scenario of growing plastic pollution and associated microplastic prevalence, the current study was designed to investigate the interactions and impact of prepared polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) of irregular surface morphology on a probiotic bacteria Bacillus tropicus ACS1, isolated from the gut of Oreochromis mossambicus (commonly called as Tilapia). The cell viability was significantly increased along with changes in bacterial growth kinetics upon exposure to varying concentrations of PS-MPs. The microplastic exposure also increased the production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) and induced slight changes in the IR spectra of the EPS. A peak representing a carbonyl linkage that could be attributed to the glycosidic linkages between sugars disappeared following exposure to higher concentrations of PS-MPs. The interaction between the bacteria and the microplastics was visualized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the colonization of the bacteria with active biofilm formation was observed. The investigation of PS-MP induced oxidative stress in the bacteria revealed the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increase in anti-oxidant enzyme concentrations, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase. The study provides new insights into the effect of microplastics on gut probiotics of an economically significant aquaculture species.

Graphical abstract: Polystyrene microplastics interaction and influence on the growth kinetics and metabolism of tilapia gut probiotic Bacillus tropicus ACS1

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Agu 2023
Accepted
01 Nov 2023
First published
22 Nov 2023

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024,26, 221-232

Polystyrene microplastics interaction and influence on the growth kinetics and metabolism of tilapia gut probiotic Bacillus tropicus ACS1

P. A. Athulya, N. Chandrasekaran and J. Thomas, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, 26, 221 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00369H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements