The Impact of Microplastics on Tissue-specific Gene Expression in the Tropical House Cricket, G. sigillatus

Abstract

Microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, resulting in animal exposure and consumption via various means, such as food, water, and air. Animals that consume microplastics may undergo physiological changes such as immunotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this study, I measured the transcriptomic responses to microplastic consumption in the tropical house cricket species Gryllodes sigillatus. Using RNA-Sequencing at the tissue-specific levels (midgut, hindgut, fat body and ovaries), I provide comprehensive insight on how microplastics impact specific organ systems.Here, I used the assembler Trinity to generate a de novo transcriptome, as there is currently no genome established for this G. sigillatus to date. This transcriptome was then used to infer differential gene expression due to microplastic consumption. Ingestion of microplastics elicited unique changes in gene expression depending on the tissue of focus, and induced changes in pathways related to metabolism, immunity, cancer, stress, and survival.