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Xu Z, Zhang Z, Wang X. Ecotoxicological effects of soil lithium on earthworm Eisenia fetida: Lethality, bioaccumulation, biomarker responses, and histopathological changes. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 330:121748. [PMID: 37127236 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Lithium is an emerging environmental contaminant in the current low-carbon economy, but little is known about its influences on soil invertebrates. In this work, earthworm Eisenia fetida was exposed to soils treated with different levels of lithium for 7 d, and multiple ecotoxicological parameters were evaluated. The results showed that mortality was dose-dependent and lithium's median lethal content (LC50) to earthworm was respectively 865.08, 361.01, 139.36, and 94.95 mg/kg after 1 d, 2 d, 4 d, and 7 d exposure. The bioaccumulation factor based on measured exogenous lithium content (BFexog) respectively reached 0.79, 1.01, 1.57, and 1.27 with the increasing lithium levels, suggesting that lithium accumulation was averagely 1.16-fold to the exogenous content, and 74.42%∼81.19%, 14.54%∼18.23%, and 2.26%∼8.02% of the lithium in exposed earthworms were respectively retained in the cytosol, debris, and granule. Then, lithium stress stimulated the activity of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, acetylcholinesterase, and glutathione S-transferase as well as the content of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine and metallothionein, indicating the generation of oxidative damage, while the content of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde decreased. Finally, lithium introduced histopathological changes, including the degenerated seminal vesicle and muscle hyperplasia, as well as high or extreme nuclear DNA damage. This study confirmed the obvious bioaccumulation and toxic effects caused by soil lithium via ecotoxicological data, providing new theoretical insights into understanding the ecological risks of lithium to soil invertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhinan Xu
- Center for Urban Eco-planning and Design, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ziqi Zhang
- Center for Urban Eco-planning and Design, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiangrong Wang
- Center for Urban Eco-planning and Design, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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Gudeta K, Kumar V, Bhagat A, Julka JM, Bhat SA, Ameen F, Qadri H, Singh S, Amarowicz R. Ecological adaptation of earthworms for coping with plant polyphenols, heavy metals, and microplastics in the soil: A review. Heliyon 2023; 9:e14572. [PMID: 36994405 PMCID: PMC10040515 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, soil pollution by massive accumulation of heavy metals (HMs), microplastics, and refractory hydrocarbon chemicals has become an emerging and global concern, drawing worldwide attention. These pollutants influence soil diversity by hindering the reproduction, abundance, thereby affecting aboveground productivity. The scientific community has recently emphasized the contribution of earthworms to heavy metal accumulation, microplastic degradation, and the decomposition of organic matter in the soil, which helps maintain the soil structure. This review paper aimed to compile scientific facts on how earthworms cope with the effect of HMs, microplastics, and plant polyphenols so that vermiremediation could be widely applied for well-being of the soil ecosystem by environmentalists. Earthworms have special surface-active metabolites in their guts called drilodefensins that help them defend themselves against the oxidative action of plant polyphenols. They also combat the effects of toxic microplastics, and other oxidative compounds by elevating the antioxidant activities of their enzymes and converting them into harmless compounds or useful nutrients. Moreover, earthworms also act as biofilters, bioindicators, bioaccumulators, and transformers of oxidative polyphenols, microplastics, toxic HMs, and other pollutant hydrocarbons. Microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) in earthworms' gut of also assist in the fixation, accumulation, and transformation of these toxicants to prevent their effects. As a potential organism for application in ecotoxicology, it is recommended to propagate earthworms in agricultural fields; isolate, and culture enormously in industry, and inoculate earthworms in the polluted soil, thereby abate toxicity and minimizing the health effect caused by these pollutants as well enhance the productivity of crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasahun Gudeta
- Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Solan, 173229, Himachal Pradesh, India
- Adama Science and Technology University, Department of Applied Biology, P.O. Box 1888, Adama, Ethiopia
| | - Vineet Kumar
- Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Kishangarh, Ajmer, 305817, Rajasthan, India
| | - Ankeet Bhagat
- Department of Zoology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India
| | - Jatinder Mohan Julka
- Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Solan, 173229, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Sartaj Ahmad Bhat
- River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan
- Corresponding author.
| | - Fuad Ameen
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Humaira Qadri
- Department of Environmental Sciences, J&K Higher Education Department, Govt. Degree College, Baramulla, 193101, Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Sumit Singh
- Department of Zoology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India
| | - Ryszard Amarowicz
- Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, 10-748, Poland
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