Abstract
Microplastics can be absorbed by plant roots and enter the food chain. Throughout the plant life cycle, roots frequently encounter various physical injuries. However, whether these prevalent injuries serve as critical pathways for microplastics entry into plants remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that both shallowly wounded roots (injuries limited to the cortex) and unwounded roots exhibit effective resistance to the penetration of microplastics. In contrast, deep wounds (injuries extending to the stele) in roots provide a rapid pathway for microplastics to enter crops such as taro (Colocasia esculenta) and maize (Zea mays). Microplastics are rapidly transported upward via wound-exposed xylem vessels in both vermiculite and soil culture conditions. When 20% of the roots were subjected to deep wounds and exposed to vermiculite containing 50 mg kg−1 of polystyrene microplastics, the accumulation levels in taro corms reached 161.1 ± 26.4 (1 μm) and 135.6 ± 24.9 (5 μm) items g−1, while in maize stems reached 503.4 ± 147.4 (1 μm) and 222.3 ± 63.8 (5 μm) items g−1. Our findings provide substantial evidence that root wounds facilitate the uptake, translocation, and accumulation of microplastics in crops, underscoring the urgent need for proper farming practices to prevent root injuries and enhance food safety.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Agricultural Science & Technology Innovation Project of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CXGC2026A07 and CXGC2026C31 to G.X.), the Key R&D Program of Shandong Province (2022LZGC024 to J.Y.), and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2023MC044 to F.C.).
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G.X. and F.W. conceived the idea, designed the project, analysed the data, and prepared the manuscript together. J.Y. and G.X. conducted all the experiments and wrote the original manuscript. X.L. and F.C. prepared the plant. Y.Y. helped with the manuscript revision and data analysis. B.X. provided guidance on experimental methods and participated in writing and revising the final manuscript.
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Yin, J., Li, X., Cui, F. et al. Root wounds facilitate the uptake of microplastics in crop plants. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70273-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70273-x
