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Fluorescence tracing of nanoplastics accumulation in garlic sprout (Allium sativum L.) utilizing boron-doped carbon nanoparticles
Summary
Researchers used boron-doped carbon nanoparticles as fluorescent labels to trace polystyrene nanoplastic movement inside garlic sprouts, revealing that particles accumulate mainly in root epidermal cells and the vascular system via an apoplast entry route over 30 days of growth.
The migrant process of nanoplastics (NPs) has shown great interests to reveal the effects of NPs on organisms and environment. However, visual tracing is highly desire to promote the process of study on NPs migrant. Here, the distribution and growth effects of polystyrene (PS) NPs on garlic sprouts ( Allium sativum L.) were evaluated utilizing boron-doped carbon nanoparticles (BCNPs). Both BCNPs and the phospholipids in the cell membrane are hydrophobic. The experiment investigated whether phospholipids compete with BCNPs in the BCNPs/PS system. The objective was to evaluate the stability of BCNPs/PS and minimize interference from free BCNPs. The accumulation of NPs in garlic sprouts was observed via confocal laser scanning microscopy through fluorescence signals originated from BCNPs/PS composite, which was verified by biological SEM. The main accumulation appeared at root epidermal cells and vascular system along with 30 days incubation. Notably, the growth-promoting effect for roots lengthen was revealed in BCNPs group owing to inherent properties of carbon nanomaterials and existence of boron elements. Based on the fluorescence imaging results, the “apoplast entry mode” for BCNPs/PS was reasonably inferred. Excellent fluorescence tracing performance demonstrates that the metal-free BCNPs with merits of low cost and excellent fluorescence performance will be a potential tool for NPs tracing and migrant explorations.