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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and glomalin mediate the effects of microplastics on soil carbon storage
ClearPotential 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.
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.
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.
Effects of microplastics on the plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal symbiotic system: type, size, and concentration
This review examines how different types, sizes, and concentrations of microplastics affect the symbiotic relationship between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil. The study found that low microplastic concentrations may stimulate fungal colonization, while higher levels generally inhibit it, and that biodegradable microplastics and nanoplastics tend to have stronger effects on the plant-fungal system than conventional microplastics.
Migration and accumulation of microplastics in soil-plant systems mediated by symbiotic microorganisms and their ecological effects
This study found that beneficial soil fungi (mycorrhizal fungi) actually accelerate the uptake of smaller microplastics by plant roots while slowing the uptake of larger ones. The microplastics disrupted the symbiotic relationship between the fungi and plants, reducing plant nutrient absorption and growth, which matters because crops grown in microplastic-contaminated soil may be less nutritious.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi attenuate negative impact of drought on soil functions
A meta-analysis combined with greenhouse experiments demonstrated that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promote soil aggregation, microbial biomass, and nutrient-cycling enzyme activity, effectively buffering soil functions against drought. This protective effect is relevant to microplastic concerns because soil health is increasingly threatened by plastic pollution, and understanding natural soil defense mechanisms is important for protecting agricultural ecosystems.
Effects of Microplastics and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Soybean Growth and Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a sandy-loam
Researchers investigated how microplastics and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi interact to affect soybean growth and greenhouse gas emissions in sandy-loam soil, examining whether fungal colonization can mitigate microplastic-induced stress on plant development.
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.
Potential impacts of two types of microplastics on Solanum lycopersicum L. and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Researchers investigated the potential impacts of two types of microplastics on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, examining how plastic pollution may disrupt plant-fungal symbiotic relationships in agricultural soils.
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.
Microplastic effects on carbon cycling in terrestrial soil ecosystems: Storage, formation, mineralization, and microbial mechanisms
Microplastics in soil contribute to organic carbon storage through degradation and leaching, but also disrupt carbon cycling by altering plant growth, litter decomposition, and microbial activity. The net effect on soil CO2 and CH4 emissions varies depending on how microplastics reshape microbial community structure and enzyme activity.
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.
Addition of polyester microplastic fibers to soil alters the diversity and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and affects plant growth and nutrition
Researchers added polyester microplastic fibers to soil microcosms and monitored changes in microbial diversity and abundance over time, finding that fibers altered soil bacterial and fungal community structure at realistic environmental concentrations.
Impact of Coexistence of Microplastics and Biochar on the Abundance and Structure of Soil Fungal Communities
Researchers investigated the effects of polypropylene, polyethylene, and PVC microplastics — alone and in combination with biochar — on soil fungal community structure, diversity, and functional prediction in agricultural soil. Microplastics increased overall fungal abundance but reduced diversity indices, with dominant taxa including Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierella, Aspergillus, and Fusarium, and coexistence with biochar amplifying these effects beyond microplastics alone.
Differential carbon accumulation of microbial necromass and plant lignin by pollution of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics in soil
This study found that both conventional polyethylene and biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics changed how carbon is stored in soil. The plastics increased carbon from dead microbes while decreasing carbon from plant material, with most of the additional soil carbon coming from fungal remains. These changes to soil chemistry matter because they could affect agricultural productivity and the ability of soil to store carbon, with broader implications for climate and food systems.
Can microplastics mediate soil properties, plant growth and carbon/nitrogen turnover in the terrestrial ecosystem?
This review assessed evidence for microplastic effects on soil properties, plant growth, and carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Microplastics were found to alter soil structure, water retention, microbial activity, and nutrient cycling, with cascading effects on plant growth and soil organic matter turnover.
Effects of different microplastics on the activation of soil potassium by ectomycorrhizal fungi
This study found that both polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics hindered the growth of an ectomycorrhizal fungus and reduced how much potassium it could release from soil for plants, with PLA being the more harmful of the two. The findings matter because mycorrhizal fungi are critical for forest nutrient cycling, and microplastic contamination of soils could quietly degrade this ecosystem service.
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.
Nitrogen fertilization and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi do not mitigate the adverse effects of soil contamination with polypropylene microfibers on maize growth
Researchers tested whether adding nitrogen fertilizer or beneficial soil fungi could offset the negative effects of polypropylene microfibers on maize plants. They found that neither nitrogen supplementation nor mycorrhizal fungi helped the plants overcome the growth reductions caused by microplastic contamination. The study suggests that microplastics harm crops through mechanisms beyond simple nutrient limitation, and that conventional farming practices may not be sufficient to counteract microplastic damage to soil health.
Effect of microplastics on rhizosphere and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of Zea mays
Researchers exposed maize to two types of polyethylene microplastics (0.1% and 0.5% w/w) in glasshouse conditions for seven weeks and measured effects on rhizosphere fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhizal root colonization, spore abundance, and fungal diversity were significantly reduced in a concentration-dependent manner, potentially impairing plant nutrient uptake.
Microplastic effects on carbon cycling processes in soils
Researchers reviewed how microplastics affect carbon cycling processes in soils, including their influence on microbial activity, plant growth, and litter decomposition. Since microplastics are themselves carbon-based materials, they can directly alter soil carbon stocks while also indirectly shifting microbial communities. The study calls for a major research effort to understand the widespread effects of microplastics on soil functioning and terrestrial ecosystem health.
Microplastics could be a threat to plants in terrestrial systems directly or indirectly
This review synthesized evidence on how microplastics threaten terrestrial plants both directly — through seed pore blockage, root uptake, and accumulation in tissues — and indirectly — by disrupting mycorrhizal fungi and earthworms that support plant nutrition and soil structure.
The Spatiotemporal Successions of Bacterial and Fungal Plastisphere Communities and Their Effects on Microplastic Degradation in Soil Ecosystems
Researchers tracked how bacterial and fungal communities colonize microplastic surfaces in soil over time, finding that the surrounding soil type had the strongest influence on which microbes grew on the plastics. The microbial communities on microplastics were less diverse and less stable than those in the surrounding soil, but they attracted microbes with a higher capacity to break down organic carbon. The study suggests that microplastic surfaces become hotspots for carbon metabolism in soil ecosystems.
Effects of microplastics on soil microorganisms and microbial functions in nutrients and carbon cycling – A review
This review examines how microplastics in soil alter the communities of bacteria and fungi that are essential for recycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. Microplastics can increase certain beneficial bacteria but decrease others that are important for soil fertility, and they also carry toxic chemicals that further disrupt microbial life. The authors note that most studies are short-term lab experiments, and long-term field studies are needed to understand real-world impacts.