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Intercropping strategies to mitigate PLA-Pb stress and enhance legume growth: A mechanistic study
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Researchers demonstrated that faba bean-wheat intercropping significantly reduces the combined toxicity of polylactic acid microplastics and lead in agricultural soil, increasing plant biomass and antioxidant enzyme activity while decreasing lead accumulation and Fusarium wilt incidence through rhizosphere microbial reprogramming and enrichment of defense-related metabolites.
Biodegradable microplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) are emerging contaminants that can exacerbate crop stress, particularly when combined with heavy metals like lead (Pb) in agricultural soils. While intercropping is known to enhance crop resilience, the specific mechanisms for mitigating combined PLA-Pb stress remain poorly understood. This study investigated the potential and underlying mechanisms of faba bean-wheat intercropping to mitigate combined PLA-Pb stress by assessing faba bean disease incidence, growth performance, Pb(II) accumulation, and rhizosphere microenvironment. Results demonstrated that faba bean-wheat intercropping effectively alleviated combined PLA-Pb stress. Compared to monoculture, intercropping significantly increased shoot and root biomass (by 29.16% and 27.67%), reduced Fusarium wilt incidence and disease index (by 19.00% and 18.57%), and decreased Pb(II) accumulation in leaves and roots (by 21.14% and 17.30%). Additionally, intercropping enhanced the plant antioxidant system (by increasing SOD, CAT, and APX activities), alleviated oxidative stress, and improved rhizosphere properties by reducing available Pb(II) content (by 23.87%) and increasing nutrient availability and enzyme activities. Furthermore, intercropping enriched beneficial rhizosphere bacteria (e.g., Sphingomonas), upregulated defense-related metabolites (including phenylpropanoids, alkaloids, flavonoids), and activated key resistance-related pathways such as α-linolenic acid metabolism. The partial least squares path model confirmed that intercropping promotes plant growth and disease control primarily through rhizospheric microbial and biochemical reprogramming. This research illustrates how intercropping systemically alleviates PLA-Pb co-toxicity, highlights the practical value of intercropping in managing combined pollution stress, and provides a mechanistic basis for its application in sustainable legume production.
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Researchers studied how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics interact with cadmium contamination to affect maize growth and beneficial soil fungi in agricultural soil. While polyethylene showed minimal direct plant toxicity, high doses of polylactic acid significantly reduced maize biomass, and both plastic types altered the communities of root-associated fungi. The study suggests that co-contamination of microplastics and heavy metals in farmland can jointly disrupt plant health and soil ecosystems.
Wheat–faba bean intercropping reduces Fusarium wilt by enhancing root resistance under combined Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fabae and microplastics stress
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Microplastic pollution in farm soil can make crop diseases worse—in this study, it significantly increased Fusarium wilt in faba beans, a plant fungal disease. The good news: growing faba beans alongside wheat (instead of alone) helped the plants fight off the disease by strengthening their roots and natural defenses, even with microplastics present. This matters because it points to a simple, chemical-free farming strategy that could help protect food crops as microplastic pollution continues to build up in soil worldwide.
Impact of Microplstic and Lead Toxicity on the Terrestrial Plants: a Critical Review
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This review examines the toxic effects of microplastics and lead on terrestrial plants, synthesizing evidence that MPs modify soil physicochemical properties and enzymatic activity while lead disrupts root and shoot biomass, leaf development, and growth tolerance. Combined microplastic-lead exposure is found to be more damaging than either stressor alone, with implications for agricultural productivity in contaminated soils.
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