Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape
Microplastics pose a serious ecological threat to agricultural soils, as they are very persistent in nature. Microplastics can enter the soil system in different ways and present different shapes and concentrations. However, little is known about how plants react to microplastics with different conc...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Komal Riaz Tahira Yasmeen Kotb A. Attia Itoh Kimiko Muhammad Saleem Arif |
| author_facet | Komal Riaz Tahira Yasmeen Kotb A. Attia Itoh Kimiko Muhammad Saleem Arif |
| author_sort | Komal Riaz |
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| description | Microplastics pose a serious ecological threat to agricultural soils, as they are very persistent in nature. Microplastics can enter the soil system in different ways and present different shapes and concentrations. However, little is known about how plants react to microplastics with different concentrations and shapes. To this end, we conducted a factorial pot experiment with wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) in which we mixed polystyrene (PS) in different shapes (bead, fiber and powder) with soil at concentrations of 0, 1, 3 and 5%. Although all shapes of PS significantly reduced morphological growth traits, PS in powder shape was the microplastic that reduced plant height (by 58–60%), fresh biomass (by 54–55%) and dry biomass (by 61–62%) the most, especially at the 3% and 5% concentrations compared with 0% PS. Similar negative effects were also observed for root length and fresh root weight at the 3% and 5% concentrations, regardless of shape. A concentration-dependent reduction in the leaf area index (LAI) was also observed. Interestingly, increasing the PS concentration tended to up-regulate the activity of antioxidant enzymes for all shapes, indicating potential complexity and a highly time-dependent response related to various reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, PS at the 5% concentration caused a significant reduction in chlorophyll pigmentation and photosynthetic rate. For the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and intercellular CO<sub>2</sub> concentration, the negative effects of PS on wheat plants increased with the increase in microplastic concentration for all shapes of PS. Overall, we concluded that PS microplastics at higher concentrations are potentially more devastating to the physiological growth and biochemical attributes of wheat, as evidenced by the negative effects on photosynthetic pigments and gas exchange parameters for all shapes. We recommend further research experiments not only on translocation but also on tissue-specific retention of different sizes in crops to fully understand their impact on food safety. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-b57a6db375154282aaec8b792ed7549a2025-01-24T13:51:06ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042025-01-011315710.3390/toxics13010057Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and ShapeKomal Riaz0Tahira Yasmeen1Kotb A. Attia2Itoh Kimiko3Muhammad Saleem Arif4Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanDepartment of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaInstitute of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Ikarashi-2, Nishiku, Niigata 950-2181, JapanDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanMicroplastics pose a serious ecological threat to agricultural soils, as they are very persistent in nature. Microplastics can enter the soil system in different ways and present different shapes and concentrations. However, little is known about how plants react to microplastics with different concentrations and shapes. To this end, we conducted a factorial pot experiment with wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) in which we mixed polystyrene (PS) in different shapes (bead, fiber and powder) with soil at concentrations of 0, 1, 3 and 5%. Although all shapes of PS significantly reduced morphological growth traits, PS in powder shape was the microplastic that reduced plant height (by 58–60%), fresh biomass (by 54–55%) and dry biomass (by 61–62%) the most, especially at the 3% and 5% concentrations compared with 0% PS. Similar negative effects were also observed for root length and fresh root weight at the 3% and 5% concentrations, regardless of shape. A concentration-dependent reduction in the leaf area index (LAI) was also observed. Interestingly, increasing the PS concentration tended to up-regulate the activity of antioxidant enzymes for all shapes, indicating potential complexity and a highly time-dependent response related to various reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, PS at the 5% concentration caused a significant reduction in chlorophyll pigmentation and photosynthetic rate. For the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and intercellular CO<sub>2</sub> concentration, the negative effects of PS on wheat plants increased with the increase in microplastic concentration for all shapes of PS. Overall, we concluded that PS microplastics at higher concentrations are potentially more devastating to the physiological growth and biochemical attributes of wheat, as evidenced by the negative effects on photosynthetic pigments and gas exchange parameters for all shapes. We recommend further research experiments not only on translocation but also on tissue-specific retention of different sizes in crops to fully understand their impact on food safety.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/1/57agricultural pollutionabiotic stressemerging pollutantscereal cropsfood safety |
| spellingShingle | Komal Riaz Tahira Yasmeen Kotb A. Attia Itoh Kimiko Muhammad Saleem Arif Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape Toxics agricultural pollution abiotic stress emerging pollutants cereal crops food safety |
| title | Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape |
| title_full | Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape |
| title_fullStr | Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape |
| title_full_unstemmed | Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape |
| title_short | Phytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Growth Morphology, Photosynthesis, Gaseous Exchange and Oxidative Stress of Wheat Vary with Concentration and Shape |
| title_sort | phytotoxic effects of polystyrene microplastics on growth morphology photosynthesis gaseous exchange and oxidative stress of wheat vary with concentration and shape |
| topic | agricultural pollution abiotic stress emerging pollutants cereal crops food safety |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/1/57 |
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