Nanobiochar Mitigates Photosynthetic Impairment in Rice Caused by Antibiotic Cocontamination: A Mechanistic Elucidation of Dual-Site Photoinhibition and Metabolic Reprogramming.
Zhu H, Wang Q, Wu Z, Lian F, Liu H
Soil Health
Rice paddies downstream from farms and hospitals absorb antibiotic runoff through their roots — and this research shows that combination exposure quietly collapses the plant's ability to photosynthesize long before any visible wilting warns a grower.
When rice seedlings were exposed to two common antibiotics at once — the kind that wash off farmland and into waterways — their ability to convert sunlight into food energy nearly collapsed. Researchers found the antibiotics attacked photosynthesis at two separate points simultaneously, making the damage far worse than either antibiotic alone. Encouragingly, adding a specially processed charcoal material at the nanoscale to the soil dramatically reduced how much antibiotic the plants absorbed and helped restore normal growth.
Key Findings
Combined tetracycline and ciprofloxacin exposure drove net photosynthetic rate down to 1.44 μmol CO₂/m²/s, far below healthy levels, by disrupting photosynthesis at two distinct sites simultaneously.
Coexposure amplified antibiotic accumulation in both roots and shoots compared to single-antibiotic treatments, compounding pigment loss and growth inhibition.
Nanobiochar treatment mitigated photosynthetic impairment by reducing antibiotic uptake and triggering metabolic reprogramming that partially restored the plant's energy systems.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Antibiotic pollution from TC and ciprofloxacin severely damages rice photosynthesis when both antibiotics are present together, but a nanoparticle form of biochar can substantially reverse that damage by blocking antibiotic uptake and repairing the plant's energy-producing machinery.
Abstract Preview
Antibiotic cocontamination poses a severe but poorly understood threat to crop photosynthesis. This study employed an integrated multiscale framework to uncover the phytotoxicity of tetracycline (T...
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