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Anthropogenic Carbon Particles Trigger Oxidative Reprogramming of Mangrove Physiology and Disrupt Rhizosphere
Sixiang Zhuang1,2, Zeyu Cai1, Ziqin Lin1,2
1Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Ecological Security and Green Development, Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Ocean, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou510006, China.
Abstract:
Mangrove (Avicennia marina) ecosystems are vital carbon sinks increasingly threatened by anthropogenic carbon particles. In a 150-day waterlogged pot experiment, A. marina seedling and rhizosphere responses to subsurface-applied polystyrene nanoplastic (PS NP) or biochar (BC) were evaluated through integrated physiological, microscopic, and multiomics analyses. PS NPs followed a soil-root-stem-leaf gradient (63.4, 24.33, 4.72, 3.66 μg/g), indicating restricted upward transport, whereas BC showed limited internalization. Compared to controls, PS NP reduced root volume by 6.68%, caused chloroplast disintegration, and increased leaf reactive oxygen species by 1.14-fold, decreasing ΦPSII by 11%. BC reduced ΦPSII by 20.7% and induced severe root-tip disintegration; urease activity declined by 83%. Multiomics revealed PS NP upregulated arachidonic acid metabolism and aromatic amino acid pathways by 2.56- and 2.71-fold and reduced microbe-gene-metabolite connectivity by 28.3%, while BC reduced unsaturated fatty acid abundance by 28% and microbial network connectivity by 23.9%. Both treatments altered core C-N cycling genes, with PS NP promoting carbon degradation and BC inducing compensatory carbon fixation. Collectively, both PS NP and BC disrupt the soil-microbe-plant interface, with BC's negative effects exacerbated in oxygen-limited mangrove sediments.
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