Chan, Matthew: The Effects of Four Pure Microplastics on the Development of Zebrafish Cardiac Genes

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Title: The Effects of Four Pure Microplastics on the Development of Zebrafish Cardiac Genes

Name: Matthew Chan

Major: Biological Sciences

School affiliation: School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

Programs: Aresty – Research or Conference Funding Recipient

Other contributors: Gina Moreno, Keith Cooper

Abstract: Microplastics are defined as small plastic particles that range from 5mm to 10nm in length. The effect of smaller microplastics, in the nanometer range, after ingestion by organisms is of growing concern. The microplastics used in this study were high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and polyurethane (PUR). Previous morphometric studies showed that exposure to these microplastics (specifically PET and PMMA) had significant changes to total body length and pericardial sac size. Now, the aim of the study is to examine how microplastics affect the development of certain Danio rerio, zebrafish, cardiac genes. RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, and RTqPCR techniques were utilized to examine for any genetic alterations to zebrafish after exposure to certain microplastics. It is hypothesized that if zebrafish are exposed to certain microplastics during development, then there will be a difference of regulation of Nkx 2.5, Tbx 5a, and GATA 5 cardiac genes compared to the control. So far we have tested PET for Nkx 2.5, Tbx 5a, and GATA 5. We have also tested PUR for Nkx 2.5 and GATA 5. PET in 1 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL concentrations and PUR in 1 μg/mL concentration trended toward an increase in expression fold change for Nkx 2.5.