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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Fragmentation of nanoplastics driven by plant–microbe rhizosphere interaction during abiotic stress combination
ClearAre nanoplastics potentially toxic for plants and rhizobiota? Current knowledge and recommendations
This review evaluates whether nanoplastics — the smallest plastic fragments, formed as larger plastics break down — are toxic to plants and the microorganisms living around their roots (rhizobiota). The evidence suggests nanoplastics can directly impair plant growth and indirectly harm soil biology by altering soil chemistry and releasing associated contaminants. Because soil is becoming a major reservoir for plastic pollution, understanding these effects is critical for global food security and soil ecosystem health.
Impact of Nanoplastic Contamination on Rhizosphere Microbiome and Plant Phenotype
This study examined how nanoplastic contamination affects the rhizosphere microbiome (soil bacteria around plant roots) and plant growth. Nanoplastic exposure altered soil microbial communities and reduced plant growth, suggesting these tiny plastic particles could disrupt the soil ecosystems that support food production.
Effects of micro and nanoplastics on plant-assisted bioremediation for contaminated soil recovery: A review
This review examines how the growing presence of micro- and nanoplastics in contaminated soils affects plant-assisted bioremediation, finding that microplastics disrupt the plant-microbe rhizosphere interactions that make phytoremediation effective for removing heavy metals and degrading organic pollutants.
Effects of nanoplastics and compound pollutants containing nanoplastics on plants, microorganisms and rhizosphere systems: A review
This review summarizes how nanoplastics, the tiniest plastic particles, affect plants, soil microorganisms, and the root zone where they interact. Nanoplastics can disrupt photosynthesis, alter gene activity, and reduce microbial diversity, and their harmful effects get worse when they combine with heavy metals or other pollutants. Since plant roots are a key pathway for nanoplastics to enter the food chain, these effects could ultimately impact the safety and nutritional quality of the food we eat.
Impacts of non-spherical polyethylene nanoplastics on microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes in the rhizosphere of pea (Pisum sativum L.): An integrated metagenomic and metabolomic analysis
Researchers exposed pea plants to non-spherical polyethylene nanoplastics at 0, 20, and 200 mg/kg, finding that high doses significantly inhibited plant growth, restructured rhizosphere microbial communities, and elevated antibiotic resistance gene abundance via integrated metagenomics and metabolomics.
Ecotoxicological effects of plastics on plants, soil fauna and microorganisms: A meta-analysis
Meta-analysis of 2,936 observations from 140 studies found that plastics caused substantial detrimental effects to plants and soil fauna, but had less impact on microbial diversity. Larger plastics (>1 um) impaired plant growth and germination while nanoplastics primarily increased oxidative stress, and soil fauna reproduction and survival were more adversely affected by smaller particles.
Combined interactions and ecotoxicological effects of micro/nanoplastics and organic pollutants in soil–plant systems: a critical overview
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics interact with organic pollutants in soil-plant systems. The study highlights that these plastic particles can act synergistically with organic pollutants in terrestrial ecosystems, posing combined threats to soil and plant health that warrant further investigation.
Unveiling the mechanism of micro-and-nano plastic phytotoxicity on terrestrial plants: A comprehensive review of omics approaches.
This comprehensive review examined how micro-and-nano plastics (MNPs) in terrestrial soils damage plant health by inhibiting water and nutrient uptake, reducing seed germination, impairing photosynthesis, and inducing oxidative stress. The review identified key knowledge gaps in understanding MNP phytotoxicity mechanisms and their implications for food security.
Nanoplastic alters soybean microbiome across rhizocompartments level and symbiosis via flavonoid-mediated pathways
Researchers applied polypropylene and polyethylene nanoplastics to soybean growing conditions and found that the particles altered soil chemistry, changed bacterial communities, and unexpectedly accelerated root nodule formation and nitrogen-fixing activity at lower doses. The effects varied by plastic type, with polyethylene nanoplastics having a stronger impact on soil enzyme activity. The study reveals that nanoplastic pollution can reshape the soil microbiome and influence how plants form beneficial partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Reprogramming of microbial community in barley root endosphere and rhizosphere soil by polystyrene plastics with different particle sizes
Barley plants grown in polystyrene microplastic- and nanoplastic-contaminated soil showed altered microbial communities in both the root endosphere and rhizosphere, suggesting plastic pollution can reshape plant-associated microbiomes. These shifts could have downstream consequences for plant health and soil nutrient cycling.
Particulate plastics-plant interaction in soil and its implications: A review
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in soil interact with plants, including uptake through roots, accumulation in plant tissues, and effects on growth, nutrient absorption, and soil microbial communities. The study highlights that these plastic particles can alter soil structure and chemistry in ways that affect crop development, raising concerns about food safety and agricultural productivity.
Rhizosphere microbial activities in response to combined effects of drought and microplastic
Researchers studied how combined drought stress and microplastic contamination affect rhizosphere microbial activities, finding that microplastics exacerbated drought-induced suppression of soil enzyme activities and altered microbial community structure around plant roots.
Occurrence and distribution of micro/nanoplastics in soils and their phytotoxic effects: A review
This review examined how micro- and nanoplastics distribute across different soil types and get taken up by plant roots, finding that smaller, spherical particles are absorbed more easily. Researchers found that these plastic particles accumulate in plants and trigger oxidative stress, which disrupts gene expression and metabolic pathways important for plant growth and biomass production.
Microplastic fragments in sand alleviate the negative effects of heavy metals on plants
A mesocosm experiment found that microplastic fragments in substrate unexpectedly reduced cadmium uptake by plants despite increasing the metal's bioavailability in the soil — suggesting microplastics alter the chemistry of how plants access heavy metals through mechanisms not related to pH or soil moisture. The non-hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis thaliana showed increased biomass when exposed to both cadmium and microplastics together compared to either stressor alone. These counterintuitive interactions highlight how microplastics can complicate predicting heavy metal toxicity in contaminated soils.
Micro (nano) plastic pollution: The ecological influence on soil-plant system and human health.
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect soil health, plant growth, and food quality, finding that these particles accumulate in plant root systems and can reduce crop yields and alter nutritional content. Since contaminated soil and water are increasingly delivering microplastics to food crops, these findings are directly relevant to agricultural food safety.
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.
Mechanistic insights into the effects of micro- and nano-plastics on cherry radish physiology and organic compound distribution at the soil-root interface.
Researchers exposed cherry radish to polyethylene microplastics (2 µm) and nanoplastics (200 nm) at varying concentrations and measured effects on plant physiology and organic compound distribution at the soil-root interface. Smaller nanoplastic particles caused greater disruption to root exudate chemistry and plant metabolism than the larger microplastics, pointing to a size-dependent toxicity mechanism.
Individual and Combined Effects of Nanoplastics and Cadmium on the Rhizosphere Bacterial Community of Sedum alfredii Hance
When polystyrene nanoplastics and cadmium co-occur in soil, they act synergistically to disrupt the bacterial community around plant roots (rhizosphere), reducing the diversity of beneficial bacteria by more than what either pollutant does alone. High concentrations of nanoplastics combined with cadmium significantly increased the availability of cadmium in soil by 4%, potentially increasing uptake by plants. This matters for both food safety — since Sedum alfredii is used in phytoremediation of heavy-metal-contaminated sites — and for understanding how combined pollution stresses affect soil health.
Legacy effect of microplastics on plant–soil feedbacks
Researchers examined the legacy effects of microplastic contamination on plant-soil feedbacks using soil previously conditioned with various microplastic types, finding that residual microplastics altered soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling in ways that affected subsequent plant growth.
Microplastic particles alter wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function
Researchers found that microplastic particles altered wheat rhizosphere soil microbial community composition and function, with different polymer types inducing distinct shifts in bacterial diversity and nutrient cycling processes.
Impact of nanoplastics uptake on modulation of plant metabolism and stress responses: a multi-omics perspective on remediation and tolerance mechanisms
Researchers reviewed how nanoplastics accumulate in plant tissues and disrupt metabolism, finding that these particles impair nutrient uptake, trigger reactive oxygen species overproduction, and alter gene and protein expression, while multi-omics approaches are revealing the molecular stress-response networks that plants use to tolerate or remediate nanoplastic contamination.
Effects of micro(nano)plastics on higher plants and the rhizosphere environment
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect higher plants and the soil environment around their roots. Researchers found that these particles can be absorbed through roots and transported to other plant tissues, causing oxidative stress and disrupting photosynthesis, metabolism, and gene expression. The study highlights that plastic pollution in soil threatens not only plant health but also the broader rhizosphere ecosystem that supports agriculture.
Aging microplastic aggravates the pollution of heavy metals in rhizosphere biofilms
Researchers found that aging microplastics aggravate heavy metal pollution in rhizosphere biofilms, with weathered MPs accumulating more metals and altering microbial community structure in the root zone, potentially increasing contaminant transfer to plants.
Soil contamination with micro- and nanoplastics: environmental risks, challenges, and consequences for agroecosystems and agriculture
This review examines the mechanisms, distribution pathways, and ecological consequences of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils, detailing impacts on soil structure, biodiversity, food chains, and crop productivity.