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Effects of microplastics on lentil (Lens culinaris) seed germination and seedling growth
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Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics affect lentil seed germination and seedling growth using an advanced optical imaging technique. The study found that exposure to microplastics reduced seed germination rates and slowed internal biological activity in the seeds. These findings suggest that microplastic contamination in soil could negatively impact the early growth stages of important food crops.
Widespread use of plastics and mishandling has resulted in severe environmental issues affecting seed germination and seedling growth. This study investigates the effect of polyethylene microplastics (740-4990 nm PEMPs) on lentil (Lens culinaris) seed germination and seedling growth using Biospeckle Optical Coherence Tomography (bOCT), a technique that we successfully demonstrated earlier in visualizing the internal activity of plants. Lentil seeds were exposed to PEMPs bioassay for seven days with 10, 50, and 100 mg L-1 concentrations. The average speckle contrast was calculated after 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h of exposure, and statistically significant differences were observed just after 6 h of exposure under all the treatments. However, with conventional parameters, germination viability, germination rate, root and shoot lengths, fresh and dry seedling weights, and antioxidative enzymes, no significant effect was observed until 2 d of exposure. The results revealed that the presence of PEMPs significantly reduced the internal activity at the initial stages that could be visualized only by the use of bOCT, which has never been observed till now. Our results demonstrated for the first time the effect that microplastics indeed could hinder the internal activity during germination of the seeds, possibly resulting from the physical blockage of pores leading to stunted growth at later stages.
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Optical screening method to observe the biological activities of lentil (Lens culinaris) seeds quantitatively under the exposure of polyethylene microplastics (PEMPs) using ultrahigh accurate biospeckle optical coherence tomography
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Researchers used biospeckle optical coherence tomography (bOCT) to non-invasively monitor the effects of polyethylene microplastics (PEMPs) on lentil seed germination at concentrations of 10, 50, and 100 mg/L over 24 hours. They found that PEMPs significantly reduced internal seed activity as early as 6 hours into exposure — detectable only by bOCT prior to visible germination changes — demonstrating the technique's potential for early detection of microplastic effects on seed physiology.
Biospeckle optical coherence tomography reveals the mitigation of the harmful effects of heavy metal zinc in combination with polyethylene microplastics in lentil seeds
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