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Anthropogenic CarbonParticles Trigger Oxidative Reprogrammingof Mangrove Physiology and Disrupt Rhizosphere Microbial Networks
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Scientists found that both nanoplastic pollution and biochar (a charcoal-like soil additive) can harm mangrove trees—stunting root growth, damaging their photosynthesis, and disrupting the helpful microbes in the soil around their roots. This matters because mangroves are important "carbon sinks" that help fight climate change, and if pollution weakens their ability to grow and store carbon, it could speed up environmental damage that ultimately affects everyone's health. It's also a reminder that the nanoplastics building up in soil and water don't just disappear—they work their way into plants and ecosystems, raising questions about how
Mangrove (Avicennia marina) ecosystems are vital carbon sinks increasingly threatened by anthropogenic carbon particles. In a 150-day waterlogged pot experiment, A. marina seedling and rhizosphere responses to subsurface-applied polystyrene nanoplastic (PS NP) or biochar (BC) were evaluated through integrated physiological, microscopic, and multiomics analyses. PS NPs followed a soil-root-stem-leaf gradient (63.4, 24.33, 4.72, 3.66 μg/g), indicating restricted upward transport, whereas BC showed limited internalization. Compared to controls, PS NP reduced root volume by 6.68%, caused chloroplast disintegration, and increased leaf reactive oxygen species by 1.14-fold, decreasing ΦPSII by 11%. BC reduced ΦPSII by 20.7% and induced severe root-tip disintegration; urease activity declined by 83%. Multiomics revealed PS NP upregulated arachidonic acid metabolism and aromatic amino acid pathways by 2.56- and 2.71-fold and reduced microbe-gene-metabolite connectivity by 28.3%, while BC reduced unsaturated fatty acid abundance by 28% and microbial network connectivity by 23.9%. Both treatments altered core C-N cycling genes, with PS NP promoting carbon degradation and BC inducing compensatory carbon fixation. Collectively, both PS NP and BC disrupt the soil-microbe-plant interface, with BC's negative effects exacerbated in oxygen-limited mangrove sediments.
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