Papers

61,005 results
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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

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

Plant growth-promoting bacteria improve the Cd phytoremediation efficiency of soils contaminated with PE–Cd complex pollution by influencing the rhizosphere microbiome of sorghum

Researchers found that adding beneficial bacteria to soil contaminated with both polyethylene microplastics and the toxic metal cadmium helped sorghum plants grow larger and absorb more cadmium from the soil, improving cleanup potential. This approach matters for food safety because using plants and bacteria to remove combined microplastic-heavy metal pollution from farmland could reduce the amount of these contaminants that enter the food supply.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 49 citations
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

Principles and Applicability of Integrated Remediation Strategies for Heavy Metal Removal/Recovery from Contaminated Environments

Researchers reviewed strategies for removing heavy metals from contaminated agricultural soils, focusing on how chelating agents — chemicals that bind to metals — combined with beneficial bacteria can help plants absorb and neutralize metals without harming plant growth, offering cleaner soils for safer food production.

2022 Journal of Plant Growth Regulation 106 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

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

Harnessing beneficial bacteria to remediate antibiotic-polluted agricultural soils: integrating source diversity, bioavailability modulators, and ecological impacts

This review examines how plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) can be used to remediate antibiotic-contaminated agricultural soils, covering the diversity of bacterial mechanisms and ecological risks. It also discusses how microplastics in soil interact with antibiotic persistence and resistance gene spread.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology
Article Tier 2

The Importance of Humic Acids in Shaping the Resistance of Soil Microorganisms and the Tolerance of Zea mays to Excess Cadmium in Soil

Researchers assessed whether a humic acid soil amendment (Humus Active) could protect maize from cadmium toxicity by modifying the soil bacterial community structure under heavy metal stress. Humic acid treatment improved soil bacterial diversity and reduced cadmium uptake by maize, suggesting that humic preparations can partially restore soil microbiome function and crop health in cadmium-contaminated agricultural land.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Article Tier 2

Cadmium-Tolerant Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria Curtobacterium oceanosedimentum Improves Growth Attributes and Strengthens Antioxidant System in Chili (Capsicum frutescens)

Researchers found that the cadmium-tolerant bacterium Curtobacterium oceanosedimentum improved growth and strengthened antioxidant defenses in chili plants grown in cadmium-contaminated soil, demonstrating its potential as a bioremediation agent for heavy metal-polluted agricultural land.

2022 Sustainability 33 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

Microplastics alter cadmium accumulation in different soil-plant systems: Revealing the crucial roles of soil bacteria and metabolism

A study found that microplastics in soil can change how much cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, is absorbed by food crops, with the effects varying depending on soil type and the amount of plastic present. By altering soil chemistry and bacterial communities, microplastics reshape how pollutants move through farmland and into the food we eat.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Use of Parthenium hysterophorus with synthetic chelator for enhanced uptake of cadmium and lead from contaminated soils—a step toward better public health

Researchers demonstrated that the invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus can extract cadmium and lead from contaminated soils, with EDTA chelator boosting metal uptake capacity, offering a phytoremediation approach to improve public health.

2022 Frontiers in Public Health 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Accelerating phytoremediation of degraded agricultural soils utilizing rhizobacteria and endophytes: a review

This review examines how beneficial soil bacteria and fungi can help plants clean up contaminated agricultural soils, including those polluted by plastic mulch residues, pesticides, and heavy metals. Microbial-assisted phytoremediation is presented as a promising low-cost approach for restoring degraded farmland.

2019 Environmental Reviews 30 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

Insights on Immobilization of Cd Contamination in Soil: Synergic Impacts of Water Management and Bauxite Residue

Researchers tested whether combining flooding with bauxite residue or lime could reduce the availability of toxic cadmium in contaminated soil. Both combined treatments raised soil pH and increased the proportion of cadmium locked into stable, residual forms while decreasing the easily exchangeable fraction. The bauxite residue treatment proved slightly more effective at immobilizing cadmium, offering a potential soil remediation strategy for heavy metal-contaminated agricultural land.

2024 ACS Omega 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Coexisting Elements (Zn and Ni) on Cd Accumulation and Rhizosphere Bacterial Community in the Soil-Tomato System

Researchers investigated how coexisting zinc and nickel affect cadmium accumulation in tomato plants and the rhizosphere bacterial community in contaminated agricultural soils, finding that elemental interactions meaningfully alter both Cd uptake by crops and the composition of soil microbial communities.

2023 Processes 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microorganisms and Biochar Improve the Remediation Efficiency of Paspalum vaginatum and Pennisetum alopecuroides on Cadmium-Contaminated Soil

Researchers combined plant species (Paspalum vaginatum and Pennisetum americanum), microorganisms, and biochar amendments to improve phytoremediation efficiency for potentially toxic elements in contaminated soil, finding synergistic benefits from the combined approach.

2023 Toxics 18 citations
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

Enhanced Effect of Phytoextraction on Arsenic-Contaminated Soil by Microbial Reduction

Researchers used microorganisms to improve arsenic extraction efficiency by the hyperaccumulator plant Pteris vittata in contaminated soil, finding that targeted microbial enrichment methods enhanced the plant's ability to take up arsenic. This combined phytoextraction and microbial approach offers improved remediation of arsenic-contaminated soils.

2023 Applied Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar-mediated remediation of low-density polyethylene microplastic-polluted soil-plant systems: Role of phosphorus and protist community responses

Researchers found that adding biochar (a charcoal-like soil additive) to soil contaminated with microplastics helped improve plant growth by restoring phosphorus cycling. The microplastics disrupted soil microbe communities, but biochar treatment shifted these communities in beneficial ways. This suggests biochar could be a practical tool for farming in soils contaminated with plastic pollution.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Phosphorus fertiliser application mitigates the negative effects of microplastic on soil microbes and rice growth

Researchers found that adding phosphorus fertilizer to soil contaminated with microplastics helped counteract the negative effects of the plastics on rice growth and soil microbial communities. The microplastics alone disrupted bacterial interactions and suppressed plant development, but fertilizer application restored much of the lost productivity. The study offers practical guidance for managing agricultural soils in areas affected by microplastic pollution.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Coexistence of microplastics and Cd alters soil N transformation by affecting enzyme activity and ammonia oxidizer abundance

Researchers studied how the combined presence of microplastics and cadmium in soil affects nitrogen cycling, a process essential for soil fertility. They found that the pollutant mixture altered enzyme activity and shifted the balance of ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities more than either contaminant alone. The findings suggest that co-contamination of soils with microplastics and heavy metals could disrupt nutrient cycles critical for plant growth.

2023 Environmental Pollution 23 citations
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