Potential impact of polyethylene microplastics on the growth of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica F.): Endophyte and rhizosphere effects.

Microplastic contamination has received much attention, especially in agroecosystems. However, since edible crops with different genetic backgrounds may present different responses to microplastics, more research should be conducted and focused on more edible crops. In the current study, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the potential impact of polyethylene microplastic (PE) (particle sizes: 0.5 µm and 1.0 µm, addition levels: 0 (control), 0.5% and 1.0% (w/w)) addition on the physiological and biochemical variations of I. aquatica F.. The results indicated that PE addition caused an increase in the soil pH and NH4+-N and soil organic matter contents, which increased by 10.1%, 29.9% and 50.1% when PE addition at A10P0.5 level (10 g (PE) kg-1 soil, particle size: 0.5 µm). While, PE exposure resulted in a decrease in soil available phosphorus and total phosphorus contents, which decreased by 53.9% and 10.5% when PE addition at A10P0.5 level. In addition, PE addition altered the soil enzyme activities. Two-way ANOVA indicated that particle size had a greater impact on the variations in soil properties and enzyme activities than the addition level. PE addition had a strong impact on the rhizosphere microbial and root endophyte community diversity and structure of I. aquatica F.. Two-way ANOVA results indicated that the particle size and addition level significantly altered the α-diversity indices of both rhizosphere microbial and root endophyte (P < 0.05, P < 0.01 or P < 0.001). Moreover, PE was adsorbed by I. aquatica F., which was clearly observed in the transverse roots and significantly increased the H2O2, ·O2-, malondialdehyde and ascorbic acid contents in both the roots and aerial parts of I. aquatica F., leading to a decrease in I. aquatica F. biomass. Overall, the current study enriches the understanding of the effect of microplastics on edible crops.

Coffee consumption and prostate cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Many epidemiological studies have been conducted to explore the association between coffee consumption and prostate cancer. However, the results remain inconsistent. We performed a large meta-analysis of relevant studies to derive a more precise estimation of this relationship. METHODS: Systematic searches of PubMed and several other databases up to June 2013 were retrieved. All epidemiologic studies regarding coffee consumption and prostate cancer risk were included, and odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the association. RESULTS: Twelve case-control studies involving 7,909 prostate cancer cases and 9,461 controls and nine cohort studies involving 455,123 subjects were included in our analysis. Compared with the lowest category, the unstratified highest category of coffee consumption showed a significance reduction in prostate cancer risk of a fixed-effects model (OR 0.91, CI 0.86-0.97). A borderline significant influence was also found when the stratified highest category (US ≥ 4, Europe ≥ 5) of coffee consumption was compared with the reference category (OR 0.96, CI 0.92-1.00), but no relationships were observed for the other two categories. In another analysis conducted by coffee consumption and prostate cancer stage and Gleason grade, our results showed a significant inverse association in all categories of prostate cancer except Gleason <7 grade in a fixed-effects model; the results remained the same, except for advanced prostate cancer, in a random-effects model. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis suggests that high (e.g., highest ≥ 4 or 5 cups/day) coffee consumption may not only be associated with a reduced risk of overall prostate cancer, but also inversely associated with fatal and high-grade prostate cancer.