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Microplastics as emerging stressors in plants: biochemical and metabolic responses
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This review examines how microplastics act as environmental stressors in plants, disrupting biochemical and metabolic processes including photosynthesis, antioxidant defenses, and nutrient uptake, with effects varying by polymer type, particle size, and concentration.
Plastics have become an integral part of modern life, driving global production to a new level and contributing to widespread environmental pollution due to inadequate recycling and waste management systems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this crisis by increasing the use of single-use plastics, countering earlier attempts to reduce plastic use. A critical concern with plastic pollution is its progressive degradation into microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which can disperse through air, water, and soil and reach every part of ecosystems. The application of sewage sludge, the breakdown of plastic mulch, and wastewater irrigation have made agricultural soils into important MP sinks, with grave consequences for soil health and food safety. MPs and NPs in particular present significant concerns because of their tiny size, high mobility, and capacity to interact with pollutants in the soil, enter plant tissues, and interfere with metabolic, physiological, and biochemical processes. Recent studies have highlighted their uptake in diverse crops, demonstrating oxidative stress, impaired growth, and significant metabolic reprogramming. This review critically examines the pathways of microplastic uptake and transport in plants, resulting in physiological and biochemical alterations, and the underlying metabolic responses. Microplastics are found to interfere with soil microbes and nutrient cycling, as well as plant metabolism. It is essential to comprehend these changes using multi-omics techniques in order to create resilient crops and successful mitigation plans. By identifying current knowledge gaps, it outlines future research directions to deepen our understanding of plant-microplastic interactions and their broader consequences for agriculture and ecosystem sustainability.
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Nano- and microplastics commonly cause adverse impacts on plants at environmentally relevant levels: A systematic review
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Systematic review of 78 studies found that nano- and microplastics commonly cause adverse effects on plants even at environmentally relevant concentrations, with germination and root growth more strongly affected than shoot growth during early development. Chlorophyll levels were consistently reduced while stress indicators (ROS) and antioxidant enzymes were consistently upregulated across species.
Micro- and nanoplastics-induced stress in plants: uptake, physiological disruption, and toxicity mechanisms
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This review paper summarizes existing research on how tiny plastic particles (called microplastics and nanoplastics) are absorbed by plants and damage their health. These plastic particles can build up in plant tissues and disrupt how plants grow and function, which matters because we eat these plants. Since plastic pollution keeps breaking down into smaller pieces that plants absorb, this could eventually affect the safety and quality of our food supply.
Micro and nanoplastics pollution: Sources, distribution, uptake in plants, toxicological effects, and innovative remediation strategies for environmental sustainability
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This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics enter plants through roots, disrupt growth and photosynthesis, and cause oxidative stress that reduces crop yields. Because these plastic particles can move through plant tissues and into edible parts, they represent a potential pathway for microplastics to enter the human food supply.
Adsorption, uptake and toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics: Effects on terrestrial plants and aquatic macrophytes
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This review summarizes research on how micro- and nanoplastics interact with terrestrial plants and aquatic macrophytes, finding that many species can absorb or take up plastic particles. Both short-term and long-term plastic exposure triggered stress responses in plants, and since plants are at the base of food chains and a major part of the human diet, there is concern about plastics moving up through the food web. The findings suggest that plastic pollution could potentially affect plant productivity and broader ecosystem function.
Microplastic stress in plants: effects on plant growth and their remediations
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This review examines how microplastic contamination in soil affects plant growth through multiple pathways, including blocking water and nutrient absorption through roots, triggering harmful levels of reactive oxygen species, and disrupting hormone regulation. The effects vary depending on the type, size, and amount of microplastic present. Since plants are the foundation of our food supply, understanding how microplastics impair crop health is directly relevant to food safety and human nutrition.
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