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Polystyrene nanoplastics in soil impair drought priming-induced low temperature tolerance in wheat
Summary
Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics in soil affect the cold stress tolerance of drought-primed wheat plants. The study found that nanoplastic contamination impaired the beneficial effects of drought priming on photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism, ultimately reducing grain yield, suggesting that nanoplastic pollution may undermine crop resilience strategies.
Drought priming is known to enhance plant low temperature tolerance, whereas polystyrene nanoplastic contamination exerts detrimental effects on plant growth. This study investigates the less-explored influence of nanoplastic contamination on cold stress tolerance in drought-primed plants. We compared the photosynthetic carbon assimilation, carbohydrate metabolism, reactive oxygen species metabolism, and grain yield between the non-primed and drought-primed wheat grown in both nanoplastic-contaminated and healthy soils. Our results reveal that the beneficial effects of drought priming on photosynthetic carbon assimilation and the efficiency of the "water-water" cycle were compromised in the presence of nanoplastics (nPS). Additionally, nPS exposure disturbed carbohydrate metabolism, which impeded source-to-sink transport of sugar and resulted in reduced grain yield in drought-primed plants under low temperature conditions. These findings unveil the suppression of nPS on drought-primed low-temperature tolerance (DPLT) in wheat plants, suggesting an intricate interplay between the induction of stress tolerance and responses to nPS contamination. The study raises awareness about a potential challenge for future crop production.