Investigating the impact of microplastics on the soil and gut microbiome and its cumulative effects on animal health

塑料污染是一个全球性问题，并迅速成为环境和人类健康的危机。接触微塑料会影响食物链的各个层面，摄入微塑料会导致摄食活动改变、食物同化减少、动物生长受阻，并对生育和繁殖产生负面影响。随着对野生动物、牲畜和人类健康的更广泛影响，微塑料对微生物区系的干扰日益受到关注。微塑料在环境中无处不在，它们积极影响土壤和动物肠道的微生物群落。土壤微生物群落与植物和土壤有机体之间形成了错综复杂的关系，它们对养分循环和土壤肥力至关重要。摄取微塑料对肠道微生物区系的干扰日益引起人们的关注，直接影响到野生动物、牲畜和人类的健康。目前，关于微塑料如何与不同微生物物种相互作用以及细菌-微塑料复合体如何影响动物和人类健康的信息有限。项目目的：填补环境微塑料污染物与土壤微生物群落之间相互作用的重要空白，以及在农业上重要的动物物种和人类肠道之间的相互作用。该项目将使用各种实验系统，包括肠道模型和体内线虫模型，以及土壤中微塑料-微生物区系和土壤有机体相互作用的调查。消耗秀丽隐杆线虫的细菌与包括人类在内的高等真核生物具有高度的组织和细胞功能以及行为反应的保守性。因此，与本项目中使用的其他体外模型一起，它为探索微塑料对土壤和肠道微生物区系的干扰提供了一个有利的模型。主要目标是了解微塑料如何影响在土壤肥力和动物健康方面具有既定作用的微生境的细菌群落的组成、动态、扩散和活动。这项研究将有助于填补高水平研究的空白，这些技能是采用创新主导的战略所需的。

Plastic pollution is a global issue and rapidly emerging as a crisis for both environmental and human health. Exposure to microplastics impacts every level of the food chain with microplastics ingestion causing alteration of feeding activity, decreased food assimilation, stunted animal growth with negative impacts on fertility and reproduction. Microbiota perturbation by microplastics is an increasing concern with wider reaching impacts on the health of wildlife, livestock, and humans. Microplastics are ubiquitously found in the environment, and they actively influence microbial communities of the soil and the gut of animals. Soil microbial communities form intricate relationships with plants and soil organisms, and they are crucial for nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Perturbation of the gut microbiota by microplastics ingestion is an increasing concern with direct impacts on the health of wildlife, livestock and humans. Currently there is limited information on how microplastics interact with different microbial species and how bacteria-microplastics complexes influence animal and human health.Project aim: to fill an important gap in understanding interactions between the environmental microplastic pollutants and microbial communities of the soil and of the gut of agriculturally important animal species and humans. The project will use various experimental systems, including gut models and the in vivo nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as in soil investigation of microplastics-microbiota and soil organism interactions. The bacteria consuming Caenorhabditis elegans possesses a high level of conservation of tissue and cellular function and behavioural responses with higher eukaryotes including humans. Therefore, along with other in vitro models utilized in this project, it provides an advantageous model for exploring the soil and gut microbiota disturbance by microplastics. The main goal is to develop understanding how microplastics can impact the composition, dynamics, dispersal and activity of bacteria communities of microhabitats with established roles in soil fertility and animal health.This research will contribute to fill the gaps in high-level research informed skills that are required to adopt novel, innovation-led strategies.