Role of Plant Growth Regulators and Biological, Chemical, Nutrient, and Nanomaterial-Based Approaches in Mitigating Micro- and Nanoplastic Stress in Agroecosystems.
Aug 2026· Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry· Vol 74 32, pp.
24796-24819
· 0 citations· 181 references
Medicine
TL;DR
Evidence shows that stress mitigators can reduce MNPs-induced stress by improving rhizosphere microbial communities, increasing plant growth and photosynthetic efficiency, and regulating biochemical, transcriptomic, and metabolomic responses.
Abstract
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging pollutants in agricultural ecosystems, accumulating in soils and adversely affecting plant growth and crop yields. Although their toxicity is increasingly reported, the role of stress mitigators in reducing MNPs-induced toxicity in soil-plant systems remains insufficiently summarized. This review evaluates current research on mitigation strategies, including nanoparticles, phytohormones, biochar, chemicals, nutrients, plant growth-promoting bacteria and rhizobacteria, fungi, and signaling molecules. Evidence shows that these mitigators can reduce MNPs-induced stress by improving rhizosphere microbial communities, increasing plant growth and photosynthetic efficiency, and regulating biochemical, transcriptomic, and metabolomic responses. In addition, important tolerance pathways and mechanisms influenced by these mitigators are also discussed. The review highlights major knowledge gaps in existing studies and proposes future research directions. Overall, it provides a concise framework to guide the development of effective mitigation approaches to address MNPs contamination and improve sustainable crop production under emerging environmental stress conditions.
Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is among the most economically important nut crops worldwide. They are increasingly exposed to the environmental constraints associated with climate change, including drought, salinity, nutritional imbalances, and heightened disease pressure. These stressors compromise plant growth, physiological performance, nutrient acquisition, and orchard productivity, highlighting the need for sustainable strategies to enhance crop resilience. This review critically examines the current knowledge on the functional roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in pistachio production. Evidence indicates that AMF and PGPR contribute to plant performance through multiple complementary mechanisms, including improved nutrient mobilization and uptake, maintenance of ionic homeostasis, enhancement of water-use efficiency, stimulation of antioxidant defenses, modulation of stress-related signaling pathways, and suppression of phytopathogens. AMF primarily enhance phosphorus acquisition, water relations, and soil structural stability, whereas PGPR contribute to nutrient solubilization, biological control, and induction of plant defense responses. Despite promising experimental results, most studies have been conducted under controlled conditions, limiting the translation of microbial inoculation strategies to commercial orchards in the field. We identified the key knowledge gaps and research priorities required to improve the consistency, scalability, and field validation of microbiome-based approaches for sustainable pistachio production under increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
L. Vera, Jorge Retamal-Salgado, G. Tortella et al.· Plants· 0 citations
The integration of nanomaterials (NMs) with plant-beneficial microorganisms has emerged as a promising strategy to improve crop resilience to abiotic stresses. Evidence from multiple studies indicates that NM-microbe co-application often enhances plant growth, nutrient uptake, biomass accumulation, and stress tolerance more effectively than either approach alone. Under drought and salinity stress, these combinations help maintain ionic balance, particularly higher K+/Na+ ratios, sustain photosynthesis, and reduce oxidative damage by increasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase. Nanoparticles, including ZnO, Fe3O4, and SiO2, when combined with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), stimulate root development, increasing water and nutrient acquisition. Additionally, NMs can reshape rhizosphere microbial communities by enriching beneficial taxa such as Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Trichoderma while suppressing certain phytopathogens. Nanoformulated fertilizers and micronutrients further enhance nutrient use efficiency and may reduce dependence on conventional agrochemicals, supporting sustainable agricultural practices. However, the benefits of NM-microbe integration are not universal. Several studies report that some nanomaterials can inhibit beneficial microorganisms, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria and AMF, at concentrations only slightly above stimulatory levels, highlighting a narrow safety margin. Concerns also remain regarding NM persistence, soil-dependent mobility, trophic transfer through food webs, and potential disruption of soil microbial communities. This review evaluates both the advantages and risks of NM-microbe interactions, emphasizing the importance of dose, soil characteristics, and microbial strain selection. Current evidence, largely derived from short-term laboratory studies, remains insufficient to support widespread field application without long-term ecological monitoring, standardized assessment protocols, and evaluation of economic feasibility for smallholder farming systems.
O. Oyewole, S. A. Oyegbade, Abdullah S Albaqami· Integrated Environmental Ass...· 0 citations
Brown algal extracts increase crop yield by stimulating growth and enhancing resistance to environmental stress, making them a sustainable and effective biostimulant for modern agriculture. Population growth, climate change, and intensive agrochemical use pose significant challenges to environmental sustainability and food security. Seaweeds, particularly brown algae, have attracted considerable attention as promising biostimulants for sustainable agricultural applications. Brown algae, the second most prevalent group of marine macroalgae, are rich in polysaccharides (alginates, fucoidans, and laminarins), vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols, which contribute to their biostimulant properties. Previous studies have provided important insights into the mechanisms of action of seaweed extracts and the physiological and biochemical changes they induce in crop plants. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of seaweed biostimulants remain incompletely understood, recent research efforts have substantially advanced our understanding of their functional roles. This review discusses conventional and advanced extraction techniques used to obtain bioactive compounds from seaweeds. In addition, it examines the composition of brown algae and their roles in promoting plant growth, development, and stress tolerance in various crop species. Furthermore, this review highlights the molecular mechanisms underlying growth promotion, biotic stress resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance in brown algae-treated plants, along with key findings from recent metabolomics studies. The use of brown algal extracts or their components influences crop plants by enhancing nutrient uptake, regulating phytohormone signalling, boosting antioxidant defence, facilitating osmotic adjustment, and stimulating stress-responsive genes and pathways. Collectively, these properties highlight the potential of brown algae-derived biostimulants to support sustainable agriculture by reducing the need for synthetic agrochemicals while increasing food security amid growing environmental challenges.
Plant–microbe interaction is an essential component of sustainable agriculture which promotes plant growth, improves nutrient assimilation, and enhances plant resistance to various environmental stress conditions. Beneficial microbes, such as rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and endophytes, boost plant functions using molecular signaling, phytohormone modification, systemic resistance induction, and pathogen antagonism. The use of new multi-omics techniques has uncovered complicated communication systems mediated by root exudates, recognition via receptors and microbial community functioning. In this review, the current understanding of the molecular basis of plant–microbe associations and their roles in combating drought, salinity, temperature, and heavy metals stresses is summarized. Special attention is paid to the promising approach based on microbiome engineering, synthetic communities and next generation biofertilizers for climate-smart agriculture. The main difficulties associated with environmental fluctuations, host specificity, inconsistency at field scale, and the lack of omics and bioinoculant validation guidelines are also highlighted.
Bishal Sarkar, Saumendu Deb Roy· Discover Plants· 0 citations
BACKGROUND
Soil salinity is one of the most critical abiotic stressors limiting global agricultural productivity by adversely affecting plant physiology, nutrient dynamics and soil health. Excessive accumulation of soluble salts disrupts osmotic balance, induces ionic toxicity and elevates oxidative stress, thereby impairing plant metabolism and soil ecological stability. In recent years, biochar and engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as innovative and sustainable soil amendments capable of mitigating salinity-induced deterioration in agroecosystems. Biochar improves soil structure, water retention and cation exchange capacity while promoting microbial activity and nutrient availability. In contrast, nanoparticles enhance stress tolerance by regulating redox balance, improving nutrient use efficiency and modulating antioxidant defense systems.
AIM OF REVIEW
The review aims to critically evaluate the individual and combine role of biochar and nanoparticles as a nano-modified biochar (NP-BC) in alleviating salinity stress in plant-soil systems. The review further explores the mechanistic pathways through which NP-BC improves plant physiological performance, soil biochemical properties and stress resilience under saline conditions and highlight their potential as sustainable tools for managing saline agroecosystems.
KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF THE REVIEW
The integration of biochar with nanoparticles as NP-BC offers a multifunctional approach combining structural, chemical and catalytic properties. This combined system improves ion homeostasis through Na⁺ exclusion and K⁺ retention, enhances osmotic regulation, strengthens antioxidant defense systems, supports soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling under saline conditions. The review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the mechanistic interactions and functional roles of biochar, nanoparticles and NP-BC in mitigating salt stress. Furthermore, it highlights key research gaps related to dosage optimization, long-term environmental implications and field-scale applicability to support the development of next-generation sustainable nano-enabled soil management strategies.
Haider Sultan, Jingdong Chen, Yusheng Li et al.· Journal of Advanced Research· 0 citations
The role of PGPF in climate-resilient cropping systems and circular bioeconomy frameworks, including waste valorization and biofertilizer development is highlighted and key limitations such as host specificity, environmental variability, and scalability challenges are identified.
Kallol Das, A. Sarker, D. Deepo et al.· Phyton· 0 citations