Papers

20 results
|
Article Tier 2

Exogenous Melatonin Application Alleviates Microplastics and Cadmium‐Induced Phytotoxicity in Maize ( Zea mays L.) Plants: Insights From Physiological and Metabolomic Analyses

Researchers investigated whether exogenous melatonin could alleviate the combined phytotoxicity of microplastics and cadmium in maize plants. The study found that melatonin application reduced oxidative damage and improved plant growth under co-contamination stress, suggesting that melatonin may serve as a biostimulant to help crops cope with the increasingly common co-occurrence of microplastics and heavy metals in agricultural soils.

2025 Journal of Pineal Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Melatonin Alleviates Antimony Toxicity by Regulating the Antioxidant Response and Reducing Antimony Accumulation in Oryza sativa L.

Researchers investigated whether melatonin, a natural antioxidant compound, could help rice plants cope with toxic antimony contamination. They found that applying melatonin reduced antimony uptake, decreased oxidative damage, and improved rice growth under antimony stress conditions. The study suggests that melatonin treatments could be a practical strategy for growing rice in soils contaminated with heavy metals.

2023 Antioxidants 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic integration of melatonin, copper nanoparticles, and Bacillus velezensis mitigates anthracnose and microplastic stress in chili: A novel eco-friendly strategy for sustainable crop protection

Researchers combined melatonin, copper nanoparticles, and a beneficial bacterium (Bacillus velezensis) to simultaneously protect chili pepper plants from both fungal disease and microplastic stress, finding the triple treatment restored photosynthesis, hormone balance, and antioxidant defenses better than any single agent alone.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Assessing the interactive effects of microplastics and acid rain on cadmium toxicity in rice seedlings: Insights from physiological and transcriptomic analyses

Researchers studied how the combination of microplastics, acid rain, and cadmium affects rice seedling growth. They found that at high cadmium concentrations, the presence of microplastics and acid rain actually reduced cadmium's toxic effects by lowering how much of the metal accumulated in the plants. The study provides nuanced evidence that interactions between multiple environmental pollutants can sometimes produce unexpected outcomes, which matters for understanding food safety in contaminated agricultural areas.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles alleviates polystyrene nanoplastics induced growth inhibition by modulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism via melatonin signaling in maize

Researchers found that titanium dioxide nanoparticles can help protect maize plants from the growth-inhibiting effects of polystyrene nanoplastics. The protective mechanism works through the plant hormone melatonin, which regulates carbon and nitrogen metabolism when the nanoparticles are present. The study suggests that certain nanoparticles could potentially be used as agricultural tools to help crops cope with nanoplastic contamination in soil.

2024 Journal of Nanobiotechnology 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and cadmium co-contamination on soil properties, maize (Zea mays L.) growth characteristics, and cadmium accumulation in maize in loessial soil-maize systems

Researchers studied the combined effects of polyethylene microplastics and cadmium on soil properties and maize growth through pot experiments. They found that microplastics altered soil nutrient availability and, depending on size and concentration, either increased or decreased cadmium uptake by the plants. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils can change how crops absorb toxic heavy metals, with potential implications for food safety.

2024 Environmental Pollution 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploration of Single and Co-Toxic Effects of Polypropylene Micro-Plastics and Cadmium on Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Researchers investigated the single and combined toxic effects of polypropylene microplastics and cadmium on rice plants, finding that co-exposure altered cadmium bioavailability and produced compounded negative effects on plant growth and development.

2022 Nanomaterials 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Melatonin reduces nanoplastic uptake, translocation, and toxicity in wheat

Researchers investigated whether melatonin could reduce the harmful effects of polystyrene nanoplastics on wheat plants. They found that melatonin application significantly decreased nanoplastic uptake by roots and their transport to shoots by regulating aquaporin gene expression and activating antioxidant defense systems. The study suggests that melatonin may serve as a protective agent to help mitigate nanoplastic toxicity in crops.

2021 Journal of Pineal Research 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Silicon mitigates combined cadmium and microplastics toxicity in rice by regulating glyoxalase system, and phytochelatin-mediated cadmium detoxification

Researchers demonstrated that foliar silicon application mitigates the combined toxicity of cadmium and microplastics in rice by enhancing antioxidant defenses, stimulating phytochelatin production to sequester cadmium, suppressing cadmium-uptake gene expression, and restoring chlorophyll content and hormone signaling to recover crop yield.

2026 BMC Plant Biology
Article Tier 2

Melatonin Alleviates Intestinal Barrier Damaging Effects Induced by Polyethylene Microplastics in Albino Rats

Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics damaged the intestinal barrier in rats by causing inflammation, reducing protective mucus, and disrupting the tight junctions between gut cells. The damage was more severe at higher doses and included changes in gut bacteria composition. The study also found that melatonin treatment helped protect against these intestinal effects, suggesting potential avenues for reducing microplastic-related gut damage.

2023 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 17 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

Effects of microplastics and cadmium on the soil-wheat system as single and combined contaminants

Researchers found that polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics combined with cadmium reduced wheat chlorophyll concentrations and affected soil-plant systems differently depending on pollution levels, revealing complex interaction effects between co-contaminants.

2023 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Susceptibility of Cd availability in microplastics contaminated paddy soil: Influence of ferric minerals and sulfate reduction

When microplastics and cadmium contaminate paddy soil together — a common situation in agricultural areas — microplastics increase the availability of cadmium to plants, raising the risk of cadmium uptake into food crops like rice. The mechanism involves microplastics releasing dissolved organic matter that disrupts iron mineral cycling and promotes sulfate-reducing bacteria, which in turn mobilize cadmium from soil particles. These findings highlight that microplastic pollution in farmland does not act alone — it can amplify the toxicity of co-occurring heavy metal contaminants.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 11 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

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

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

Melatonin-Mediated Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

This review examines how melatonin, a molecule found in all living organisms, helps plants cope with environmental stresses like drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and heavy metal contamination. Researchers found that melatonin works by neutralizing harmful reactive oxygen species and activating plant defense pathways. The study suggests that melatonin-based treatments could help improve crop resilience in the face of increasing environmental challenges, including soil pollution.

2022 Frontiers in Plant Science 149 citations
Article Tier 2

Beneficial microbial consortia effectively alleviated plant stress caused by the synergistic toxicity of microplastics and cadmium

Researchers found that combined pollution from microplastics (PVC) and the heavy metal cadmium creates a toxic effect in soil that is worse than either pollutant alone. However, applying beneficial bacteria to contaminated soil helped plants grow better and restored soil nutrients. These findings suggest that probiotic-like bacteria could help repair farmland damaged by microplastic and heavy metal pollution.

2025 Industrial Crops and Products 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Oxidative Damage in Roots of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Seedlings Exposed to Microplastics or Combined with Cadmium

Rice seedlings exposed to polystyrene microplastics and cadmium showed combined toxic effects on root growth, fresh and dry weight, and antioxidant enzyme activities, with combined exposure producing greater oxidative damage than either pollutant alone. The study highlights synergistic phytotoxicity in a staple crop relevant to food security in microplastic-contaminated paddy soils.

2022 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Phenotypic and transcriptomic shifts in roots and leaves of rice under the joint stress from microplastic and arsenic

This study examined how rice plants respond when exposed to both microplastics and heavy metal cadmium at the same time. Researchers found that the combination caused distinct changes in root and leaf gene expression and growth patterns compared to either pollutant alone. The findings suggest that microplastics may alter how plants take up and respond to heavy metals, potentially affecting crop safety.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations