Interactive effects of warming, antibiotics, and nanoplastics on the gut microbiome of the collembolan Folsomia candida
Ferrín Guardiola, Miquel (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Marquez, Laura (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Domene, Xavier (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Zhu, Dong (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Urban Environment)
Zhu, Yong-Guan (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Urban Environment)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Peguero, Guille (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	At 20 °C antibiotic exposure led to a loss of gut microbiome evenness. - Gram-negative bacteria targeted by colistin were not globally affected. - At 20 °C nanoplastic exposure reduced relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. - Wolbachia genus controlled compositional shifts under nanoplastic addition. - At 22 °C nanoplastic exposure reduced abundance, increased evenness, and changed gut microbiome composition. - Nanoplastics and antibiotics are among the most abundant chemical pollutants of soils, but their interplay with global warming remains poorly understood. The springtail Folsomia candida (Class Collembola) is a standard model for ecotoxicological assays with potential as a bioindicator of xenobiotics. Little is known, however, about their gut microbiome and how it might respond to warming and these pollutants. We exposed populations of F. candida to nanoplastics and antibiotic under two temperatures. The antibiotic treatment consisted of colistin addition, and the nanoplastic treatment consisted of polystyrene particles (50 mg kg-1 and 0. 1 g kg-1 of dry soil, respectively). Both treatments were incubated at 20 and 22 °C for two months, and the bacterial gut microbiomes of springtails were then sequenced. Exposure to nanoplastics at 20 °C decreased the abundance of the dominant bacterial phyla and families, and decreased the evenness of the gut microbiome. At 22 °C, however, the abundances and evenness of the dominant families increased. Surprisingly, Gramnegative bacteria targeted by colistin were not globally affected. And at genus-level, the endosymbiont Wolbachia controlled the compositional shifts under nanoplastic addition, potentially driving the gut microbiome. Our results also indicated that warming was a major driver modulating the impacts of the antibiotic and nanoplastics. We illustrate how the gut microbiomes of springtails are sensitive communities responsive to xenobiotics and provide evidence of the need to combine multiple factors of global change operating simultaneously if we are to understand the responses of communities of soil arthropods and their microbiomes.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2022-140808NB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación TED2021-132627B-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-115770RB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-1333
Note:	Altres ajuts: the Fundación Ramón Areces Project CIVP20A6621.
Rights:	Aquest material està protegit per drets d'autor i/o drets afins. Podeu utilitzar aquest material en funció del que permet la legislació de drets d'autor i drets afins d'aplicació al vostre cas. Per a d'altres usos heu d'obtenir permís del(s) titular(s) de drets.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Xenobiotics ; Bacteria ; Colistin ; Microplastics ; Folsomia candida ; Global change
Published in:	Soil ecology letters, Vol. 7, issue 1 (March 2025) , art. 240269, ISSN 2662-2289

DOI: 10.1007/s42832-024-0269-8

Available from: 2026-03-30 Postprint

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles