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Microplastics: toxicity and tolerance in plants
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics harm both land plants and water plants by disrupting their growth, nutrient uptake, and genetic function, while also triggering the plants' own defense systems in response. Understanding how plants tolerate microplastic exposure is important because contaminated crops could eventually affect human health through the food chain.
Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as one of the major environmental pollutants currently. MPs (<5mm) being very tiny toxic particles coming from various anthropogenic sources impact both terrestrial and aquatic plant species by upsetting the physiological, anatomical, morphological, and genetic processes of plants. MPs in aquatic ecosystems have been reported to cause toxicity in aquatic plants and enter the food chain. Similarly, several terrestrial plants especially agricultural plant species have also been affected by MPs which may ultimately affect humans. However, this MP toxicity activates plants’ defense mechanism and induces tolerance to cope with the adverse effects caused by MPs in plants. This chapter aims to highlight the reported toxicity of MPs by previous research in both terrestrial and aquatic plants, and their tolerance and defense mechanisms. Affected physiological, anatomical, morphological, and genetic aspects of plants will be discussed in this chapter which will provide new summarized research literature for future researchers to contribute more advanced conclusions.
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This review examines how micro and nanoplastics are taken up by plants, covering their toxic effects on growth and gene expression as well as potential detoxification strategies. Smaller nanoplastics can penetrate plant cell walls and accumulate in tissues, causing oxidative stress and genetic damage. The findings are important for human health because contaminated crops could transfer microplastics directly into the food supply.
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This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics affect plant health at the cellular and genetic level, disrupting metabolism, nutrient uptake, and growth in vascular plants. Since contaminated crops are a pathway for microplastics to enter the human diet, understanding how plants absorb and respond to these particles is important for food safety.
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