Size over substance: Microplastic particle size drives gene expression and fitness loss in a freshwater insect

Microplastics (MP) are a diverse class of contaminants for which it is challenging to assess their effects on freshwater biota. As polyamide (PA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are two of the most abundant microplastic materials in natural environments, the present study investigated whether their chronic presence, particle size (< 100 μm and > 100 μm) and their mixture influenced gene transcription patterns and inclusive fitness of C. riparius. Transcriptome data as the lowest phenotypic trait level suggested that MP exposure impacted a range of organismic processes like oxidative stress and inflammations, leading to an innate immune response, downregulation of metabolism in organs directly exposed to the particles and triggered premature molting, regardless of the MP material or their mixture. A life-cycle fitness assessment was performed using PA, PVC and a mixture of both in, respectively. The integration of the fitness components survival, developmental time and fertility into the daily population growth rate as comprehensive fitness parameter on the highest trait level showed that any chronic microplastic exposure led to a considerable fitness loss. Partitioning the effects of substance and size class showed that microplastic exposure as such and size played an important role, while the MP material was of minor importance. The observed decrease in daily population growth rates between 2.3 and 7.6 % upon chronic MP exposure suggested a dramatic reduction of the species' population size and thus for freshwater ecosystems.