Although polystyrene (PS)-induced toxicity in organisms has been documented, adverse effects on lifespan and molecular mechanisms underlying microbial colonization of PS remain elusive. Herein, physicochemical properties of biofilm-developed PS (B-PS) incubated in wastewater were altered compared with virgin PS (V-PS). Bacterial community adherence to the B-PS surface were also impacted. Acute exposure to V-PS (100 μg/L) and B-PS (10 μg/L) significantly altered the mean lifespan and lipofuscin accumulation of Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting that B-PS exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations could more severely accelerate the aging process than V-PS. Generation of ROS, gst-4::GFP expression, and oxidative stress-related gene expression were significantly altered following B-PS exposure. Moreover, B-PS exposure increased the nucleus-cytoplasm translocation of DAF-16 and altered the expression of genes encoding the insulin/IGF1 signaling (IIS) pathway. Compared with wild-type nematodes, the daf-16 mutation markedly enhanced lipofuscin accumulation and reduced mean lifespan, whereas daf-2, age-1, pdk-1, and akt-1 mutants could recover lipofuscin accumulation and mean lifespan. Accordingly, B-PS exposure accelerated the aging process associated with oxidative stress and the IIS pathway, and the DAF-2-AGE-1-PDK-1-AKT-1-DAF-16 signaling cascade may play a critical role in regulating the lifespan of C. elegans. This study provides new insights into the potential risks associated with microbial colonization of microplastics.

尽管已经记录了聚苯乙烯(PS) 在生物体中引起的毒性，但对寿命的不利影响和 PS 微生物定植的分子机制仍然难以捉摸。在此，与原始 PS (V-PS) 相比，在废水中孵育的生物膜开发的 PS (B-PS) 的物理化学性质发生了变化。细菌群落对 B-PS 表面的粘附也受到影响。急性暴露于 V-PS (100 μg/L) 和 B-PS (10 μg/L) 会显着改变秀丽隐杆线虫的平均寿命和脂褐质积累，这表明暴露于环境相关浓度的 B-PS 会更严重地加速衰老工艺优于V-PS。ROS 的生成，gst-4::GFPB-PS 暴露后，表达和氧化应激相关基因表达发生显着改变。此外，B-PS 暴露增加了 DAF-16 的核-细胞质易位并改变了编码胰岛素/IGF1 信号转导 (IIS) 通路的基因的表达。与野生型线虫相比，daf-16突变显着增强了脂褐素的积累并缩短了平均寿命，而daf-2、age-1、pdk-1和akt-1突变体可以恢复脂褐素积累和平均寿命。因此，B-PS 暴露加速了与氧化应激和 IIS 通路相关的衰老过程，DAF-2-AGE-1-PDK-1-AKT-1-DAF-16 信号级联可能在调节线虫的寿命。这项研究为与微塑料微生物定植相关的潜在风险提供了新的见解。