Irreversible Immune Dysfunction in Earthworms from MoS Nanosheet Exposure: Implications for Nanoenabled Agricultural Sustainability
Sun, Kailun White, Jason C Lynch, Iseult Zhang, Peng He, Erkai Peijnenburg, Willie JGM Qiu, Hao
Sun, Kailun
White, Jason C
Lynch, Iseult
Zhang, Peng
He, Erkai
Peijnenburg, Willie JGM
Qiu, Hao
Series / Report no.
Open Access
Type
Journal Article
Article
Article
Language
en
Date of publication
2026-01-16
Year of publication
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Title
Irreversible Immune Dysfunction in Earthworms from MoS Nanosheet Exposure: Implications for Nanoenabled Agricultural Sustainability
Translated Title
Published in
Environ Sci Technol 2026; 60(4):3093–3106
Abstract
Nano-MoS is emerging as a promising agricultural nanomaterial. However, nanoenabled agriculture must balance the proposed benefits with potential risks associated with material incorporation into soil matrices. This work establishes a full-process risk assessment profile for MoS encompassing precursor particles, exfoliated nanosheets, and dissolved ionic species using the soil invertebrate under exposure-recovery cycles. The results showed that although precursor MoS exposure at 5-50 mg Mo/kg for 7 days significantly activated ( < 0.001) earthworm lumbrokinase (9.4%), antimicrobial peptide (10.2-14.0%), and hemolysin (11.9%) levels compared to the control, the biota exhibited transient immune memory and persistence upon another 7 days of recovery. Once exfoliated to nanosheet form at a consistent 5-50 mg Mo/kg dose range, more pronounced ion release (3.8-6.4%) and prolonged accumulation (43.9-55.4% excluded) of MoS nanosheets mediated persistent immune-related gene initiation. Importantly, the filamentous extension of external DNA between immune cells and deterministic clustering of endosymbiotic microbial communities were shown to collaboratively establish the homeostasis after MoS nanosheet exposure. These findings mechanistically demonstrate the persistent stress on soil invertebrate immune systems under MoS nanosheet exposure and highlight the need to link nanoenabled agriculture to soil eco-sustainability.