Arif Samia Muhammad, Khan Ilham, Saeed Muhammad, Chaudhari Sunbal Khalil, Ghorbanpour Mansour, Hasan Murtaza, Mustafa Ghazala
Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
Sci Total Environ. 2025 Apr 25;974:179220. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179220. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
The proliferation of plastic waste, particularly in the form of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), has emerged as a significant environmental challenge with profound implications for agricultural ecosystems. These pervasive pollutants accumulate in soil, altering its physicochemical properties and disrupting microbial communities. MPs/NPs can infiltrate plant systems, leading to oxidative stress and cytotoxic effects, which in turn compromise essential physiological functions such as water uptake, nutrient absorption, and photosynthesis. This situation threatens crop yield and health, while also posing risks to human health and food security through potential accumulation in the food chain. Despite increasing awareness of this issue, substantial gaps still remain in our understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms that govern plant responses to MP/NP stress. This review employs integrative omics techniques including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and epigenomics to elucidate these responses. High-throughput methodologies have revealed significant genetic and metabolic alterations that enable plants to mitigate the toxicity associated with MPs/NPs. The findings indicate a reconfiguration of metabolic pathways aimed at maintaining cellular homeostasis, activation of antioxidant mechanisms, and modulation of gene expression related to stress responses. Additionally, epigenetic modifications suggest that plants adapt to prolonged plastics exposure, highlighting unexplored avenues for targeted research. By integrating various omics approaches, a comprehensive understanding of molecular interactions and their effects on plant systems can be achieved. This review underscores potential targets for biotechnological and agronomic interventions aimed at enhancing plant resilience by identifying key stress-responsive genes, proteins, and metabolites. Ultimately, this work addresses critical knowledge gaps and highlights the importance of multi-omics strategies in developing sustainable solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of MP/NP pollution in agriculture, thereby ensuring the integrity of food systems and ecosystems.
塑料垃圾的扩散，尤其是微塑料（MPs）和纳米塑料（NPs）形式的扩散，已成为一项重大的环境挑战，对农业生态系统具有深远影响。这些普遍存在的污染物在土壤中积累，改变其物理化学性质并扰乱微生物群落。微塑料/纳米塑料可渗透到植物系统中，导致氧化应激和细胞毒性作用，进而损害水分吸收、养分吸收和光合作用等基本生理功能。这种情况威胁着作物产量和健康，同时还可能通过在食物链中的潜在积累对人类健康和粮食安全构成风险。尽管对这一问题的认识不断提高，但我们对植物应对微塑料/纳米塑料胁迫的生理和分子机制的理解仍存在重大差距。本综述采用包括基因组学、转录组学、蛋白质组学、代谢组学和表观基因组学在内的综合组学技术来阐明这些反应。高通量方法揭示了显著的遗传和代谢变化，使植物能够减轻与微塑料/纳米塑料相关的毒性。研究结果表明，代谢途径发生了重新配置，旨在维持细胞内稳态、激活抗氧化机制以及调节与应激反应相关的基因表达。此外，表观遗传修饰表明植物适应了长期的塑料暴露，突出了有待深入研究的新途径。通过整合各种组学方法，可以全面了解分子相互作用及其对植物系统的影响。本综述强调了生物技术和农艺干预的潜在目标，即通过识别关键的应激反应基因、蛋白质和代谢物来增强植物的抗逆性。最终，这项工作填补了关键的知识空白，并强调了多组学策略在开发可持续解决方案以减轻农业中微塑料/纳米塑料污染的不利影响方面的重要性，从而确保食品系统和生态系统的完整性。
