Toxicological effects and molecular metabolic of polystyrene nanoplastics on soybean (Glycine max L.): strengthening defense ability by enhancing secondary metabolisms
Bingqing Wang, Hang Yuan, Yixin Yang, Zhaoyu Jiang, Dongmei Xi
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Nanoplastics, as emerging pollutants, have attracted worldwide concern for their possible environmental dangers. The ingestion and accumulation of nanoplastics in crops can contaminate the food chain and have unintended consequences for human health. In this study, we revealed the effects of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs; 80 nm) at different concentrations (0, 10, 100 mg L-1) on soybean (Glycine max L.) seedling growth, antioxidant enzyme system and secondary metabolism. Using laser confocal microscopy, we demonstrated that the absorption and translocation of PS-NPs in soybean. Plant growth inhibition was observed by changes in plant height, root length, and leaf area after 7 days of exposure to PS-NPs. The effect of PS-NPs on photosynthetic characteristics was reflected by a significant reduction in total chlorophyll content at 10 mg L-1. Activation of the antioxidant system was observed with increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Non-targeted metabolomics analysis identified a total of 159 secondary metabolites, and exposure to 10 and 100 mg L-1 PS-NPs resulted in the production of 61 and 62 differential secondary metabolites. Metabolomics analysis showed that PS-NPs treatment altered the secondary metabolic profile of soybean leaves through the biosynthesis pathways of flavonoid, flavone flavonol, and isoflavones, which is expected to provide new insights into the tolerance mechanisms of plants to nanoplastics. Overall, the results of this study deepen our understanding of the negative impacts of nanoplastics in agricultural systems, which is crucial for assessing the risks of nanoplastics to ecological security.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Pollution is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality research papers and review articles covering all aspects of environmental pollution and its impacts on ecosystems and human health.
Subject areas include, but are not limited to:
• Sources and occurrences of pollutants that are clearly defined and measured in environmental compartments, food and food-related items, and human bodies;
• Interlinks between contaminant exposure and biological, ecological, and human health effects, including those of climate change;
• Contaminants of emerging concerns (including but not limited to antibiotic resistant microorganisms or genes, microplastics/nanoplastics, electronic wastes, light, and noise) and/or their biological, ecological, or human health effects;
• Laboratory and field studies on the remediation/mitigation of environmental pollution via new techniques and with clear links to biological, ecological, or human health effects;
• Modeling of pollution processes, patterns, or trends that is of clear environmental and/or human health interest;
• New techniques that measure and examine environmental occurrences, transport, behavior, and effects of pollutants within the environment or the laboratory, provided that they can be clearly used to address problems within regional or global environmental compartments.