Metabolic and transcriptomic responses of <i>Taxus mairei</i> to nano-pollutants: insights into AgNPs and PsNPs impact

There is a growing global concern regarding the pervasive issue of nano-pollutants. Typical nano-materials, such as polystyrene nanoplastics (PsNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), pose significant risks to ecosystems and human health. <italic>Taxus mairei</italic> is a well-known gymnosperm widely planted in South China and has great medicinal qualities. However, the effects of nano pollutants on the primary and secondary metabolism of <italic>Taxus</italic> plants have not been sufficiently explored. We investigated the responses of <italic>T. mairei</italic> to different nano-pollutants via physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. AgNPs and PsNPs significantly affected several secondary and energy metabolism-related pathways, respectively. In <italic>T. mairei</italic>, AgNPs greatly impacted flavonoid metabolism by regulating the expression of the <italic>CHI</italic> gene, while PsNPs significantly impacted energy metabolism by regulating the expression of <italic>FRK</italic> genes. Furthermore, a transcriptional regulation network, including GATA (ctg10916_gene.2), bHLH (ctg495_gene.7), MYB (ctg18368_gene.1), and NAC (ctg8193_gene.1), was predicted to be associated with the responses of <italic>T. mairei</italic> to nano-pollutants. The present study elucidated a regulatory mechanism underlying the responses of <italic>T. mairei</italic> to nano-pollutants, which has the potential to aid in the breeding of <italic>Taxus</italic> species with high environmental adaptability.