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Effects of Microplastics on Endophytes in Different Niches of Chinese Flowering Cabbage (Brassica campestris)
Summary
Researchers studied how microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect the microbial communities living inside Chinese flowering cabbage tissues. They found that microplastic exposure significantly altered the endophytic bacteria in roots and stems, increasing the abundance of potentially harmful bacterial species. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils may compromise plant health by disrupting the beneficial microorganisms that naturally reside within crop tissues.
Microplastics (MPs) are present in soil as emerging contaminants and pose a threat to soil as well as plants. Here, the effects of MPs on Chinese flowering cabbage from a microbiology perspective were explored. MP size and concentration significantly affected endophytic communities of plant root and petiole (p < 0.05). Under MP treatments, the root, petiole, and leaf exhibited a substantial abundance of pathogenic biomarkers, such as Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Ralstonia, and Escherichia, resulting in the slow growth and morbidity of the plant. Difference analysis of metabolic pathways revealed that MPs significantly upregulated the pathogenic metabolic pathways (p < 0.05), and the presence of Vibrio infectious and pathogenic metabolic pathways was detected in all three niches of the plant. Moreover, MPs significantly inhibited the contents of carotenoids, iron, vitamin C, and calcium in edible niches of the plant (p < 0.05), and most of the high-abundant biomarkers were negatively correlated with their nutritional qualities.
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