Microplastics affect activity and spatial distribution of C, N, and P hydrolases in rice rhizosphere

Highlights

● Microplastics (MPs) increased activities of N and P hydrolases in paddy soil.

● MP amount increased nutrient acquisition ratio and total enzyme activity.

● MPs lead to soil nutrient decreased through microbial action.

● MPs impact nutrient availability and agricultural ecosystem functions.

Abstract

Microplastics provide a new ecological niche for microorganisms, and the accumulation levels of microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial ecosystems are higher than those in marine ecosystems. Here, we applied the zymography to investigate how MPs – polyethylene [PE], and polyvinyl chloride [PVC]) at two levels (0.01% and 1% soil weight) impacted the spatial distribution of soil hydrolases, nutrient availability, and rice growth in paddy soil. MPs increased the above-ground biomass by 13.0%–15.5% and decreased the below-ground biomass by 8.0%–15.1%. Addition of 0.01% and 1% MPs reduced soil NH₄⁺ content by 18.3%–63.2% and 52.2%–80.2%, respectively. The average activities of N- and P-hydrolases increased by 0.8%–4.8% and 1.9%–6.3% with addition of MPs, respectively. The nutrient uptake by rice plants and the enzyme activities in hotspots increased with MP content in soil. The accumulation of MPs in paddy soil could provide an ecological niche that facilitates microbial survival, alters the spatial distribution of soil hydrolases, and decreases nutrient availability.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

MPs accumulation / Soil zymography / Microbial hotspots / Soil nutrients / Soil hydrolases

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Author contributions

Yaoyao Tong: Writing-original draft. Jina Ding & Mouliang Xiao: Writing-review & editing, supervision. Muhammad Shahbaz: Writing-review & editing. Zhenke Zhu: Writing-review & editing. Ming Chen: Conceptualization, supervision, writing-review & editing. Yakov Kuzyakov: Resources, writing-review & editing. Yangwu Deng: Conceptualization, supervision, writing-review & editing. Jianping Chen: Methodology, resources, writing-review & editing. Tida Ge: Conceptualization, supervision, writing-review & editing.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for financial support from the National Key Research and Development Plan (2019YFC1805100); and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42107341, 21767012), the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the Global Challenges Research Fund (NE/V005871/1), and sponsorship by K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University; and the Science and Technology Plan of Ganzhou City (GSKF201850).

Abbreviations

MPs, microplastics; PE, polyethylene; PVC, polyvinyl chloride; BG, β-glucosidase; XYL, xylanase; NAG, chitinase; ACP, phosphatase; DOC, dissolved organic carbon; MBC, microbial biomass C ; MBN, microbial biomass N; MBP, microbial biomass P.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-022-0138-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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