Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

The effects of multifactorial stress combination on rice and maize

This review examines how plants cope with multiple simultaneous environmental stresses — including drought, heat, flooding, and pollutants like microplastics — finding that combined stressors often cause more harm than individual stresses acting alone.

2022 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and salt single or combined stresses on growth and physiological responses of maize seedlings

Researchers studied how microplastics and salt stress, individually and combined, affect the growth of maize seedlings. They found that combined exposure caused more severe damage than either stressor alone, reducing plant biomass, disrupting photosynthesis, and increasing oxidative damage. The findings are relevant to agricultural regions where plastic mulch films break down into microplastics in salt-affected soils, creating compounding stress on crops.

2025 Physiologia Plantarum 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrative phenotypic-transcriptomic analysis of soybean plants subjected to multifactorial stress combination

Researchers subjected soybean plants to combinations of three or more simultaneous abiotic stresses (multifactorial stress combination) and used integrative phenotypic-transcriptomic analysis to characterize responses, finding that MFSC caused more severe growth decline than any individual stress. The study identifies transcriptomic signatures of multifactorial stress and highlights how climate change-associated combined stressors threaten crop production.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed the toxicity mechanism of individual or combined of microplastic and salt stress on maize

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics combined with salt stress affect maize seedlings, finding that the combination reduced plant growth by nearly 74%, far worse than either stressor alone. Gene and metabolite analysis revealed that the combined stress severely disrupted energy production, antioxidant defenses, and hormone signaling in the plants. This is relevant to food security because microplastic-contaminated agricultural soils with high salt levels could dramatically reduce crop yields.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 9 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of soil microplastics on Oryza sativa L. root growth traits under alien plant invasion

Researchers studied how microplastics in soil interact with an invasive weed species to affect rice root growth. Both stressors individually harmed rice roots, but their combination produced complex interactive effects that altered root architecture and nutrient uptake. This suggests that microplastic pollution in farmland may compound the damage caused by invasive plants, creating compounding threats to crop productivity.

2023 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics meet invasive plants: Unraveling the ecological hazards to agroecosystems

This study examined how microplastic contamination in soil combines with invasive plant species to affect rice crops. The combination of both stressors caused greater changes in rice metabolism and antioxidant responses than either stressor alone. These findings highlight how microplastic pollution in agricultural soil can interact with other environmental challenges to threaten food safety and crop health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of combined salt and microplastic stress on the microbiota structure of the rice–oriental armyworm system

Researchers studied how salt stress and polyethylene microplastic contamination together affect rice plants and the insects that feed on them. They found that while individual stressors reduced insect weight, the combined stress surprisingly allowed partial recovery, suggesting complex interactions between the two environmental factors. The study reveals that co-occurring stresses from salt and microplastics reshape microbial communities in both plants and insects in unexpected ways.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
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

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
Article Tier 2

Concurrence of microplastics and heat waves reduces rice yields and disturbs the agroecosystem nitrogen cycle

Researchers found that while microplastics or heat waves alone had mild effects on rice crops, the combination reduced yields by about 32% and significantly lowered grain protein and nutrient content. The dual stress disrupted nitrogen cycling in the soil and shifted nutrient distribution within the plants, reducing photosynthesis. This matters because climate change and plastic pollution are increasing simultaneously in agricultural regions.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive impacts of heat stress and microplastics contamination on the growth and biochemical response of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays) plants

Researchers investigated how heat stress combined with polyethylene microplastic contamination in soil affects wheat and maize growth. They found that the combination significantly reduced plant height, root length, leaf area, and chlorophyll content more than either stressor alone. The findings highlight that microplastic pollution in agricultural soils could worsen the damage already caused by rising temperatures to food crops.

2025 Ecotoxicology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyvinyl chloride microplastics and drought co-exposure alter rice growth by affecting metabolomics and proteomics

Researchers investigated how PVC microplastics combined with drought stress affect rice growth using advanced protein and metabolite analysis. They found that both stressors individually harmed rice development, but together they caused even greater damage to plant metabolism and growth. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in agricultural soils may worsen the effects of drought on crop production.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Number of simultaneously acting global change factors affects composition, diversity and productivity of grassland plant communities

Researchers exposed grassland plant communities to increasing numbers of simultaneous global change stressors — such as warming, pollution, and nutrient enrichment — finding that multiple combined stressors reduced plant species diversity even when no single stressor alone had that effect. This highlights that studying environmental threats in isolation can underestimate their true ecological damage.

2022 Nature Communications 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Multi‐Omics Insights Into Phenylpropanoid and Lipid Barrier Biosynthesis in Maize Roots Under Salt and Microplastic Stresses

Researchers used transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to investigate how polystyrene microplastics and salt stress — individually and in combination — affect phenylpropanoid and lipid barrier biosynthesis in maize seedling roots, finding that combined stresses alter molecular defence pathways in ways distinct from either stressor alone.

2025 Physiologia Plantarum
Article Tier 2

A Spatially‐Resolved Framework Reveals Contrasting Root and Leaf Strategies to Nanoplastic‐Arsenic Stress in Rice

This study used a new statistical framework to show that rice roots and leaves respond very differently when exposed to both nanoplastics and arsenic simultaneously: roots mount a straightforward additive defense, while leaves show complex antagonistic molecular interactions centred on iron storage. The finding is important for food safety because it reveals that standard toxicity tests on individual stressors may underestimate the risks posed by contaminant mixtures in food crops.

2026 Physiologia Plantarum
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure to microplastics and soil pollutants significantly exacerbates toxicity to crops: Insights from a global meta and machine-learning analysis

A large-scale analysis of 68 studies found that when microplastics combine with other soil pollutants, the harm to crops is significantly worse than from the other pollutants alone. Microplastics intensified damage to plant growth, increased oxidative stress, and reduced photosynthesis efficiency. Interestingly, microplastics did reduce the amount of other pollutants that accumulated in the crops, but the overall toxic effects on plant health were still greater.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Cascading effects from soil to maize functional traits explain maize response to microplastics disturbance in multi-nutrient soil environment

Researchers found that microplastics in agricultural soil can dry out the soil and disrupt nutrient availability for maize plants, but the crop partially compensates by growing longer, more efficient roots to forage for nutrients. This adaptive response — more pronounced in nutrient-rich soils — means microplastic impacts on crop yields depend heavily on soil conditions, complicating efforts to predict food security risks from plastic pollution.

2023 Geoderma 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Impact of Canada Goldenrod Invasion and Soil Microplastic Contamination on Seed Germination and Root Development of Wheat: Evaluating the Legacy of Toxicity

Researchers studied the combined effects of invasive Canada goldenrod and microplastic contamination on wheat seed germination and root growth. They found that both stressors individually and together impaired wheat development, with their combined impact being particularly concerning for agricultural productivity. The study highlights how multiple environmental stressors can interact to compound threats to food crops.

2025 Plants 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Inhibitory Effect of Canada Goldenrod Invasion and Soil Microplastics on Rice Growth

Researchers found that the combination of invasive Canada goldenrod plants and soil microplastics reduced rice biomass and disrupted antioxidant enzyme activity more severely than either stressor alone, suggesting that microplastic pollution can amplify the agricultural harm caused by invasive plant species.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv.) to the coexistence of micro-/nanoplastics and phthalate esters alters its growth environment

Researchers studied how wheat responds to co-existing stressors of microplastics and another soil contaminant, finding that combined exposure altered plant growth, physiological parameters, and grain quality compared to single-stressor exposures. The results highlight the importance of testing contaminant mixtures in agricultural soils.

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

Integrating microplastic research in sustainable agriculture: Challenges and future directions for food production

Researchers reviewed how microplastics interact with environmental stressors like heat, drought, and salinity to threaten crop health and food safety, finding that microplastics can increase toxic metal uptake in plants and alter growth — with risks likely to worsen as climate change intensifies.

2025 Current Plant Biology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Acquisitive trait strategies enhance resistance in wheat under combined microplastic and water deficit

Researchers grew two wheat varieties under four conditions — normal, microplastic exposure, water deficit, and both stressors combined — finding that combined stress reduced plant growth by 28–41% depending on drought sensitivity. The drought-tolerant variety coped better by adopting more flexible, resource-acquisitive leaf strategies, suggesting that trait-based crop breeding could help plants withstand the dual threat of microplastic pollution and drought.

2026 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
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

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