Leilei Zhang, Filippo Vaccari, Federico Ardenti, Andrea Fiorini, Vincenzo Tabaglio, Edoardo Puglisi, Marco Trevisan, Luigi Lucini
The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in soils potentially induce morphological, physiological, and biochemical alterations in plants. The present study investigated the effects of MPs/NPs on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata) plants by focusing on (i) four different particle sizes of polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics, at (ii) four concentrations. Photosynthetic activity, morphological changes in plants, and metabolomic shifts in roots and leaves were investigated. Our findings revealed that particle size plays a pivotal role in influencing various growth traits of lettuce (biomass, color segmentation, greening index, leaf area, and photosynthetic activity), physiological parameters (including maximum quantum yield - Fv/Fmmax , or quantum yield in the steady-state Fv/FmLss , NPQLss , RfdLss , FtLss , FqLss ), and metabolomic signatures...
March 16, 2024: Plant Physiology and Biochemistry: PPB