Nano zero-valent iron and melatonin synergistically alters uptake and translocation of Cd and As in soil-rice system and mechanism in soil chemistry and microbiology

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (Fe) is a promising nanomaterial for remediating heavy metal-contaminated soils. Melatonin (MT) is essential to alleviate environmental stress in plants. However, the conjunction effects of Fe and MT (FeMT) on rice Cd, As accumulation and the mechanism of soil chemical and microbial factors interaction are unclear. Here, a pot experiment was conducted to evaluated the effects of the FeMT for rice Cd, As accumulation and underlying mechanisms. The findings showed that FeMT significantly reduced grains Cd by 92%–87% and As by over 90%, whereas improving grains Fe by over 213%. Soil available-Cd and iron plaques-Cd (extracted by dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate solution, DCB-Cd) significantly regulated roots Cd, thus affected Cd transport to grains. Soil pH significantly affected soil As and DCB-As, which further influenced roots As uptake and the transport to shoots and grains. The interactions between the soil bacterial community and soil Fe, available Fe, and DCB-Fe together affected root Fe absorption and transportation in rice. FeMT significantly influenced rhizosphere soil bacterial α- and β-diversity. Firmicutes as the dominant phylum exhibited a significant positive response to FeMT measure, and acted a key role in reducing soil Cd and As availability mainly by improving iron-manganese plaques. The increase of soil pH caused by FeMT was beneficial only for Actinobacteriota growth, which reduced Cd, As availability probably through complexation and adsorption. FeMT also showed greater potential in reducing human health and ecological risks by rice consumption and straw returning. These results showed the important role of both soil chemical and microbial factors in FeMT-mediated rice Cd, As reduction efficiency. This study opens a novel strategy for safe rice production and improvement of rice iron nutrition level in heavy-metals polluted soil, but also provides new insights into the intricate regulatory relationships among soil biochemistry, toxic elements, microorganism, and plants.