Biochar-mediated remediation of low-density polyethylene microplastic-polluted soil-plant systems: Role of phosphorus and protist community responses.

While the prevalent utilization of plastic products has enabled social advancement, the concomitant microplastics (MPs) pollution presents a serious threat to environmental security and public health. Protists, as regulators of soil microorganisms, are also capable of responding most rapidly to changes in the soil environment. The amelioration mechanisms of biochar in the soil-plant systems polluted by low-density polyethylene microplastics (LDPE-MPs) and the response of protist communities in the soil-plant systems polluted by MPs remain unclear.

Effect of different types of biochar on soil properties and functional microbial communities in rhizosphere and bulk soils and their relationship with CH and NO emissions.

Biochar as an agricultural soil amendment plays vital roles in mediating methane (CH) and nitrous oxide (NO) emissions in soils. The link between different types of biochar, bulk soil, and rhizosphere microbial communities in relation to CH and NO emissions is being investigated in this study. The rice pot experiment was conducted using biochar at two temperatures (300°C and 500°C) in combination with three biochar levels (0, 2, 10% w/w).

Differing effects of inorganic and organic arsenic on uptake and distribution of multi-elements in Rice grain.

Arsenic (As) pollution can lead to an element imbalance in rice. A hydroponic study was carried out to examine the influence of inorganic (arsenate) and organic (dimethylarsinic acid (DMA)) arsenic compounds on the concentration and distribution of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) in rice caryopsis at maturity using laser confocal microscopy and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF). Results showed that treatments with inorganic (iAs) and organic (DMA) arsenic did not change the distribution characteristics of the above elements in rice grains.

Biochar Modulates Methanogenesis through Electron Syntrophy of Microorganisms with Ethanol as a Substrate.

Biochar has the potential to influence methanogenesis which is a key component of global carbon cycling. However, the mechanisms governing biochar's influence on methanogenesis is not well understood, especially its effects on interspecies relationships between methanogens and anaerobic bacteria (e.g.