Integration of physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic approaches reveals the responses of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) seedlings exposed to polystyrene microplastics

IF 6.2 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Industrial Crops and Products Pub Date : 2025-10-14 DOI:10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.122061

Qiuping Tan, Dongyu He, Zhaoru Xu, Tongqiu Luo, Wenzhe Zhao, Yue Chen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) are ubiquitous in agricultural soils and can be captured by plants; nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms underlying responses of fruit trees to microplastic exposure remain largely unknown. Here, an integration of physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic strategies was employed to assess the effects of PS-MPs on sweet orange seedlings in pot experiments. PS-MP exposure increased H₂O₂ content by 40.33 % and reduced soluble protein levels by 38.56 %, while increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities by 100.05 %, 200.36 %, and 300.47 %, respectively. PS-MPs significantly influenced the expression of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis, elevating the levels of L-phenylalanine, L-proline, L-citrulline, L-arginine, L-tyrosine, and L-isoleucine by 181 %, 51.57 %, 486 %, 382 %, 154 %, and 123 %, respectively, while reducing the L-lysine content by 78 %. PS-MP also induced the production of a large quantity of amino acid derivatives, flavonoids, alkaloids, organic acids, and lipid accumulation. PS-MP also induced transcription of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCEDs), which elevated ABA content by 974 %. Moreover, PS-MP suppressed the expression of photosystem II light-harvesting complex protein genes (LHCIIs), impairing light energy absorption and transfer. PS-MPs induced the phenylpropanoid pathway by increasing the expression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase genes (PALs), resulting in a 436 % increase in cinnamic acid. PS-MPs activated the serotonin pathway by up-regulation of TDCs expression, increasing tryptamine by 1570 % and serotonin by 1309 %. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the serotonin pathway being activated by microplastic exposure. This study offers new insights into the mechanisms underlying sweet orange responses to PS-MP exposure.

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综合生理学、转录组学和代谢组学方法揭示了甜橙（Citrus sinensis）幼苗暴露于聚苯乙烯微塑料的反应

聚苯乙烯微塑料（PS-MPs）在农业土壤中无处不在，可以被植物捕获；然而，果树对微塑料暴露反应的分子机制在很大程度上仍然未知。在盆栽试验中，采用生理、转录组学和代谢组学的综合策略来评估PS-MPs对甜橙幼苗的影响。PS-MP处理使H2O2含量提高了40.33 %，可溶性蛋白水平降低了38.56 %，超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化物酶（POD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性分别提高了100.05 %、200.36 %和300.47 %。PS-MPs显著影响了氨基酸生物合成相关基因的表达，使l -苯丙氨酸、l -脯氨酸、l -瓜氨酸、l -精氨酸、l -酪氨酸和l -异亮氨酸的含量分别提高了181 %、51.57 %、486 %、382 %、154 %和123 %，使l -赖氨酸含量降低了78 %。PS-MP还诱导了大量氨基酸衍生物、类黄酮、生物碱、有机酸的产生和脂质积累。PS-MP还能诱导9-顺式环氧类胡萝卜素双加氧酶（NCEDs）的转录，使ABA含量提高974 %。此外，PS-MP抑制光系统II光收集复合蛋白基因（LHCIIs）的表达，损害光能的吸收和转移。PS-MPs通过增加苯丙氨酸解氨酶基因（pal）的表达诱导苯丙氨酸途径，导致肉桂酸增加436 %。PS-MPs通过上调TDCs表达激活5 -羟色胺途径，使色胺增加1570 %，5 -羟色胺增加1309 %。据我们所知，这是第一个关于5 -羟色胺途径因接触微塑料而被激活的报告。这项研究为甜橙对PS-MP暴露的反应机制提供了新的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Industrial Crops and Products 农林科学-农业工程

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

8.50%

发文量

1518

审稿时长

43 days

期刊介绍： Industrial Crops and Products is an International Journal publishing academic and industrial research on industrial (defined as non-food/non-feed) crops and products. Papers concern both crop-oriented and bio-based materials from crops-oriented research, and should be of interest to an international audience, hypothesis driven, and where comparisons are made statistics performed.