Biomedical subjects

Jibiao Fan

Publications and source records attributed to Jibiao Fan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

From ecological threats to environmental solutions: a critical review of invasive plant species for heavy metal phytoremediation.

Heavy metal contamination represents a persistent environmental challenge threatening ecosystem stability, agricultural productivity, and human health. Therefore, the development of sustainable and cost-effective remediation strategies is essential. Phytoremediation, an environmentally compatible approach that utilizes plants and their associated biological processes to reduce contaminant mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity, has gained increasing attention as an alternative to conventional remediation techniques. Among potential phytoremediation candidates, invasive plant species (IPS) have attracted interest due to their rapid growth, high biomass production, extensive root systems, physiological plasticity, and tolerance to stressful environments, including heavy metal contamination. Species such as Alternanthera philoxeroides, Arundo donax, Eichhornia crassipes, and Pistia stratiotes have demonstrated potential for metal uptake, accumulation, immobilization, or tolerance in contaminated ecosystems. This review critically examines the role of invasive plants in heavy metal phytoremediation by evaluating the physiological, biochemical, and ecological traits that influence remediation outcomes. Key mechanisms, including phytoextraction, phytostabilization, rhizosphere-mediated processes, and plant-microbe interactions, are discussed using evidence from contaminated soil and aquatic environments. The potential advantages of invasive plants, particularly their high biomass production and environmental adaptability, are evaluated alongside ecological concerns associated with their utilization. Importantly, invasion success does not necessarily translate into remediation success, and the effectiveness of invasive plants depends on contaminant characteristics, ecosystem conditions, and management practices. Major challenges, including uncontrolled spread, ecosystem disruption, contaminated biomass management, and limited field-scale validation, are critically assessed. Overall, invasive plants represent context-dependent remediation resources rather than universal solutions. Their application requires integrated risk assessment, containment strategies, long-term monitoring, and evidence-based management frameworks to maximize remediation benefits while minimizing ecological risks.

Contamination↗

PubMed2026

Circle-seq analysis reveals the involvement of eccDNAs in salt stress response of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon).

Extrachromosomal circular DNAs (eccDNAs) have been identified in a wide variety of plant species and play a pivotal role in genomic plasticity, emerging as key drivers of stress adaptation. However, the putative roles of eccDNAs under environmental stress remain largely unexplored in plants. As a high-quality turfgrass, bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) is a pivotal species for the reclamation and improvement of saline-alkali soils. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the eccDNA profiles in bermudagrass under salt stress. A total of 1,068 eccDNAs were identified across all chromosomes. These eccDNAs were characterized by short lengths (ranging from 100 bp to 1 kb) and low GC content. Their genomic distribution was not entirely random but rather exhibited a certain preference for intergenic regions and coding sequences (CDS). Crucially, null model analysis of A/T-rich junction sites revealed that these eccDNAs primarily originate from physically unstable scaffold/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs) via stochastic fragmentation, followed by opportunistic circularization predominantly mediated by the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway. Notably, salt stress specifically enriched eccDNAs derived from DNA transposons, including the Tc1/Mariner, CACTA and MITE superfamilies. Overall, our findings reveal complex extrachromosomal structural dynamics in bermudagrass, offering novel insights into its genomic adaptation under environmental stress.

Cynodon↗

PubMed2026

Comparative Responses of Invasive and Native Plant Species to Combined Cd and Microplastic Pollution.

The co-occurrence of heavy metal contamination and biodegradable microplastic (polylactic acid, PLA) pollution poses increasing risks to terrestrial plant communities and soil functioning, yet species-specific responses to combined stress remain poorly understood. Cd and microplastics frequently co-occur in agricultural soils, where microplastics can alter cadmium mobility, bioavailability, and transport pathways, potentially modifying metal toxicity and plant stress responses compared with single-pollutant exposure. We investigated the responses of the invasive Bidens pilosa and the native Solanum nigrum grown in monoculture and mixed culture under combined cadmium (Cd) and biodegradable microplastic (PLA) stress by integrating plant growth, photosynthetic performance, oxidative physiology, and rhizosphere biochemical processes. Combined Cd-MP exposure markedly reduced plant growth, chlorophyll content (SPAD), photosystem II efficiency (Fv/Fm), nitrogen accumulation, biomass production, and rhizosphere enzyme activities associated with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling. However, B. pilosa maintained greater physiological stability under stress, characterized by higher antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, POD), lower reactive oxygen species (H2O2, O2˙-) accumulation, and reduced lipid peroxidation (MDA), whereas S. nigrum exhibited stronger oxidative damage and functional impairment. Multivariate analyses further revealed that root antioxidant capacity was closely associated with rhizosphere microbial enzyme activity, suggesting a root-centered regulatory mechanism linking plant stress tolerance to soil functioning. Overall, the invasive species showed greater tolerance to combined contamination and maintained relatively higher rhizosphere functional activity than the native species, indicating that multi-pollutant stress may alter competitive interactions between invasive and native plants in contaminated environments.

Cadmium↗