Team > M.Sc. Benjamin Trotter

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

M.Sc. Benjamin Trotter

PhD candidate

PhD project: Effects of microplastics on the model organism Daphnia

The presence of (micro-) plastics in marine systems has been investigated in a multitude of studies over the past decades. Yet, the contamination of freshwater systems has just recently caught the attention of scientists. This lead to an increased insight of how quantitatively and qualitatively (micro-) plastic has contaminated freshwater systems in sediments and the pelagic zone. Due to its high abundance (micro-) plastic has become available to a multitude of organisms, spanning over a broad band of trophic levels, which might lead to the accumulation of (micro-) plastics within the food web. The uptake of microplastics has been proven for a multitude of species, also including the freshwater crustacean Daphnia, which inhibits a central role in the limnetic food web. Up till now, the effects of microplastic particles on freshwater organisms are poorly understood as the research is in it`s infancy. Goal of this thesis is to investigate the possible effects of microplastics and associated additives on the morphological and molecular level of different Daphnia species. Research on the molecular analysis is done on the transcriptome level, where mRNA and protein abundances are measured. Proteomic analysis is performed at the Laboratory of functional genomics (LAFUGA) at the workgroup of Dr. Georg Arnold (http://www.genzentrum.uni-muenchen.de/research-groups/lafuga/arnold/index.html) at the Gene Center Munich of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University.

Funding

• German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU)
  

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

Publications

2021

Benjamin Trotter, Magdalena V. Wilde, Julian Brehm, Evdokia Dafni, Arlinda Aliu, Georg J. Arnold, Thomas Fröhlich, Christian Laforsch: Long-term exposure of Daphnia magna to polystyrene microplastic (PS-MP) leads to alterations of the proteome, morphology and life-history. In: Science of the Total Environment, 795 (2021). - .
doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148822

2020

James D. O´Connor, Anne M. Mahon, Anja Ramsperger, Benjamin Trotter, Paula E. Redondo-Hasselerharm, Albert A. Koelmans, Heather T. Lally, Sinéad Murphy: Microplastics in Freshwater Biota : A Critical Review of Isolation, Characterization, and Assessment Methods. In: Global Challenges, 4 (2020). - .
doi:10.1002/gch2.201800118

2019

Isabella Schrank, Benjamin Trotter, Julia Dummert, Barbara Scholz-Böttcher, Martin G. J. Löder, Christian Laforsch: Effects of microplastic particles and leaching additive on the life history and morphology of Daphnia magna. In: Environmental Pollution, 255, Part 2 (2019). - .
doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113233

Benjamin Trotter, Anja Ramsperger, Patricia Raab, Julia Haberstroh, Christian Laforsch: Plastic waste interferes with chemical communication in aquatic ecosystems. In: Scientific Reports, 9 (2019). - .
doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41677-1

2017

Hannes Imhof, Robert Sigl, Emilia Brauer, Sabine Feyl, Philipp Giesemann, Stefan Klink, Kathrin Leupolz, Martin G. J. Löder, Lena Löschel, Jan Missun, Sarah Muszynski, Anja Ramsperger, Isabella Schrank, Susan Speck, Sebastian Steibl, Benjamin Trotter, Isabel Winter, Christian Laforsch: Spatial and temporal variation of macro-, meso- and microplastic abundance on a remote coral island of the Maldives, Indian Ocean. In: Marine Pollution Bulletin, 116 (2017). - S. 340-347.
doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.010

2015

Benjamin Trotter, Kathrin A. Otte, Kathrin Schoppmann, Ruth Hemmersbach, Thomas Fröhlich, Georg J. Arnold, Christian Laforsch: The influence of simulated microgravity on the proteome of Daphnia magna. In: npj Microgravity, 1 (2015). - .
doi:10.1038/npjmgrav.2015.16

2014

Christian Laforsch, Jessica Fischer, Bernard Wolfschoon Ribeiro, Kathrin Schoppmann, Benjamin Trotter: The forgotten cue : Daphnia bears a not yet described gravireceptive organ system. - (Vortrag), Veranstaltung: 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 2014, 2. - 10. August 2014, Moskau, Russland.

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

M.Sc. Benjamin Trotter

E-mail: benjamin.trotter@uni-bayreuth.de