Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance maize cadmium resistance and reduce translocation: Dependence on microplastics concentration

Researchers investigated how beneficial soil fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can help maize plants resist cadmium toxicity in soils contaminated with both microplastics and heavy metals. They found that high concentrations of polyethylene microplastics worsened cadmium toxicity, but inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi significantly improved plant growth, nutrient uptake, and photosynthesis. The study suggests that these fungi could serve as a biological tool for managing crop health in soils with combined microplastic and heavy metal contamination.

2026
Article Tier 2

The impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and endophytic bacteria on peanuts under the combined pollution of cadmium and microplastics

Researchers tested whether beneficial soil fungi and bacteria could help peanut plants cope with combined contamination from cadmium and microplastics. They found that the microbial treatment effectively trapped cadmium in the plant roots, preventing it from moving into the shoots and edible parts. The study suggests that harnessing natural soil microbes could be a practical strategy for growing safer food in polluted farmland.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Rhizosphere microbiome metagenomics in PGPR-mediated alleviation of combined stress from polypropylene microplastics and Cd in hybrid Pennisetum

Researchers found that beneficial soil bacteria (PGPR) can help plants cope with the combined stress of polypropylene microplastics and the toxic heavy metal cadmium. The bacteria improved plant growth by 8-42% under contaminated conditions by reshaping the microbial community around plant roots. This study offers a potential strategy for maintaining crop productivity in farmland contaminated with both microplastics and heavy metals.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics and cadmium on plant growth and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in an agricultural soil

Researchers studied how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics interact with cadmium contamination to affect maize growth and beneficial soil fungi in agricultural soil. While polyethylene showed minimal direct plant toxicity, high doses of polylactic acid significantly reduced maize biomass, and both plastic types altered the communities of root-associated fungi. The study suggests that co-contamination of microplastics and heavy metals in farmland can jointly disrupt plant health and soil ecosystems.

2020 Chemosphere 643 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics modify plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi systems in a Pb-Zn-contaminated soil

Researchers examined how six types of microplastics affect sweet sorghum growth and soil fungal communities in soil contaminated with lead and zinc. They found that microplastics generally did not inhibit plant growth and in some cases promoted it, but they increased the uptake of heavy metals into plant shoots. The study suggests that microplastics may worsen the risks of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils by enhancing metal accumulation in crops.

2025 Applied Soil Ecology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential Effects of Microplastic on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

This review examines how microplastics in soil affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, finding evidence that microplastics can alter fungal colonization of plant roots, spore production, and the broader soil microbiome, with cascading effects on plant nutrient uptake.

2021 Frontiers in Plant Science 89 citations
Article Tier 2

The mycorrhizal symbiosis: research frontiers in genomics, ecology, and agricultural application

This review covers the latest advances in understanding mycorrhizal fungi, which form partnerships with plant roots to help them absorb nutrients and resist stress. While not directly about microplastics, mycorrhizal networks play a critical role in soil health, and research shows that microplastic contamination in soil can disrupt these beneficial fungal partnerships. Healthy mycorrhizal networks may also help buffer plants against some negative effects of soil pollutants, including microplastics.

2024 New Phytologist 187 citations
Article Tier 2

[Plant Growth-promoting Bacteria Alleviate the Toxic Effects of Soil Microplastics and Heavy Metal Complex Pollution in Hybrid pennisetum].

Researchers investigated whether plant growth-promoting bacteria (Enterobacter and Bacillus spp.) could alleviate combined polypropylene microplastic and cadmium stress on Hybrid pennisetum in pot experiments, finding that inoculation improved plant growth and soil nutrient availability while shifting rhizosphere bacterial communities toward more beneficial compositions.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on cadmium accumulation by rice and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in cadmium-contaminated soil

Researchers studied how three types of microplastics interact with cadmium contamination in rice paddies, examining effects on plant growth, metal uptake, and soil fungal communities. They found that while microplastics generally increased cadmium availability in soil, they actually decreased cadmium accumulation in rice tissues. Notably, biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics caused more harm to plant growth and soil communities than conventional plastic types, challenging the assumption that biodegradable plastics are always safer.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 171 citations
Article Tier 2

Plant community responses to polypropylene microplastic and cadmium co-exposure: Implications for mycorrhizal strategies in a coastal wetland

Researchers conducted a mesocosm experiment to assess how polypropylene microplastics and cadmium interact in their effects on coastal wetland plant communities. They found that the combination of microplastics and heavy metals altered soil properties, plant community composition, and root traits in species-specific ways. The study suggests that mycorrhizal strategies play a role in how different plant species respond to this combined contamination.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics and cadmium co-contamination on the soybean-soil system: Integrated metabolic and rhizosphere microbial mechanisms

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics and cadmium interact in soybean-soil systems and found that specific microplastic concentrations enhanced cadmium accumulation in roots under moderate contamination. Higher microplastic levels reduced beneficial soil bacteria like Sphingomonas and Bradyrhizobium and suppressed nitrogen-cycling functions. The study demonstrates that microplastics fundamentally alter heavy metal behavior through interconnected plant-metabolite-microbe interactions in agricultural soils.

2026 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastic types and shapes on the community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in different soil types

Researchers examined how different types and shapes of microplastics affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities across various soil types. The study found that microplastics alter soil structure and chemistry in ways that disrupt these beneficial fungi, which play crucial roles in nutrient exchange, soil stability, and water movement.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Inhibit the Allocation of Microplastics from Crop Roots to Aboveground Edible Parts

Scientists discovered that beneficial soil fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can reduce the amount of microplastics that travel from plant roots into the edible parts of lettuce. Plants grown with these fungi transported significantly fewer plastic particles to their leaves compared to plants without them. The findings suggest that natural fungal partnerships in soil could serve as a biological barrier helping protect food crops from microplastic contamination.

2023 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Screening of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria helps alleviate the joint toxicity of PVC+Cd pollution in sorghum plants

Researchers isolated soil bacteria that promote plant growth and showed they can partially offset the combined toxicity of PVC microplastics and cadmium in sorghum, restoring soil nutrient availability and shifting rhizosphere bacterial communities in ways that support nitrogen and phosphorus cycling.

2024 Environmental Pollution 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Plant growth-promoting bacteria modulate gene expression and induce antioxidant tolerance to alleviate synergistic toxicity from combined microplastic and Cd pollution in sorghum

Scientists found that a beneficial soil bacterium (Bacillus sp. SL-413) can help protect sorghum plants from the combined toxic effects of microplastics and cadmium, a heavy metal. The bacterium boosted plant growth, reduced harmful reactive oxygen species by up to 27%, and reactivated genes that the pollution had shut down. This research points to a nature-based solution for helping food crops survive in microplastic-contaminated soil.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 49 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Combined Pollution of Microplastics and Cadmium on Microbial Community Structure and Function of Pennisetum hydridum Rhizosphere Soil].

Researchers investigated the combined effects of microplastics (polyethylene and polystyrene at different particle sizes and concentrations) and cadmium on the growth of Pennisetum hydridum and the microbial community structure and function of rhizosphere soil under pot conditions. The results showed that the type, size, and concentration of microplastics interacted with cadmium to differentially affect plant dry weight, cadmium accumulation, and soil microbial diversity indices.

2023 PubMed 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Low phosphorous and polyethylene microplastics synergistically increase Cd uptake in Lolium rigidum: Insights into underlying mechanisms

Researchers found that low phosphorus availability and polyethylene microplastics work together to significantly increase cadmium uptake in ryegrass. The study compared two ryegrass genotypes with different sensitivities to microplastic stress and identified mechanisms involving changes in root structure and soil chemistry. The findings suggest that microplastic-contaminated farmlands with nutrient-poor soils may pose heightened risks for heavy metal accumulation in crops.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Alteration of the Rhizosphere Microbiota and Growth Performance of Barley Infected with Fusarium graminearum and Screening of an Antagonistic Bacterial Strain (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens)

Researchers examined how polyethylene microplastics alter the rhizosphere microbiome and growth performance of barley infected with a root pathogen, finding that MP contamination shifted microbial community composition and exacerbated disease symptoms in infected plants.

2025 Microorganisms
Article Tier 2

Microbial synergies in phytoremediation: A comprehensive review

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a review of how soil microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) assist plants in removing pollutants like heavy metals and hydrocarbons through phytoremediation; while the study addresses environmental contamination broadly, it does not examine microplastic pollution or its effects.

2026 International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research
Article Tier 2

Regulatory Mechanisms of Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria in Alleviating Microplastic and Heavy Metal Combined Pollution: Insights from Plant Growth and Metagenomic Analysis

Researchers used metagenomic sequencing to investigate how plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) mitigate the combined toxicity of microplastics and heavy metals on plant growth. PGPB inoculation restored rhizosphere microbial function and reduced plant stress, revealing microbiome-mediated mechanisms for alleviating mixed pollutant toxicity.

2025 Agronomy