Impact of polystyrene nanoplastics on soil microbial biomass
摘要
Nanoplastics are globally emerging contaminants of soil health, yet the mechanisms by which they disrupt microbial biomass in the rhizosphere soil are poorly understood. We investigated rhizosphere soil microbial network and function using Europium-labeled polystyrene nanoplastics applied at 0-100 mg/Kg for 30 days in greenhouse pot experiments. Rhizosphere metabolite profile and functional genes were analyzed using metabolomic and metagenomic techniques. Results showed that nanoplastics upregulated nitrification gene expression, e.g., amoC, amoA, nxrB, by 90–248%, prompting ammonia to nitrate conversion. Phylogenetic analysis showed that nanoplatics altered plastic degradation gene expression by 39–63%, e.g., O-PVA with linkage to the clade of gntK, and PHB_PP with linkage to the clade of fghA and cysE.