Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41809509›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science and ecotechnology2026

Rhizosphere accelerates breakdown of large biodegradable microplastics in soil.

Kailin Gong, Cheng Peng, Xiaoyi Chen, Li Cai, Wei Zhang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science and ecotechnology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Kailin GongKey Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Cheng PengKey Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Xiaoyi ChenKey Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Li CaiShanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, 200092, China.
Wei ZhangKey Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The expanding deployment of biodegradable mulch films in global agriculture aims to mitigate persistent plastic pollution, yet the fate of resulting biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) in soil ecosystems remains poorly characterized. Although these materials are engineered for mineralization, their breakdown rates under realistic field conditions vary substantially, and plant roots fundamentally alter soil biogeochemistry through rhizodeposition and microbial recruitment. Whether the biochemically complex rhizosphere environment accelerates or retards BMP degradation, and how degradation byproducts accumulate, represents a critical knowledge gap for assessing the environmental safety of biodegradable agricultural plastics. Here we show that the soybean rhizosphere exhibits size-selective effects on poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastic (PBAT-MP) degradation. Large particles (998.7 ± 74.6 μm) degrade significantly faster than in bulk soil, whereas small particles (145.6 ± 3.1 μm) remain largely protected within soil aggregates over a 70-day growth cycle. Advanced quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance analysis reveals preferential hydrolysis of aliphatic adipate units, resulting in greater accumulation of degradation monomers in the rhizosphere than in bulk soil. Microbial community profiling identifies enrichment of Proteobacteria-particularly

Indexed as

Biodegradable microplasticsDegradationMicrobial communityRhizosphere effectSoil metabolomics

Identifiers

PMID41809509
PMCPMC12969132

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.