Transcriptomic and Metabolic Reprogramming of Durum Wheat under Nanoplastic Exposure
Polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) are an emerging class of environmental contaminants whose effects on terrestrial plants remain poorly understood. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum), one of the most important cereal crops worldwide, was used as a model to investigate how PSNP exposure influences plant physiology and gene regulation. In this study, wheat seedlings were exposed to controlled concentrations of PSNPs, and transcriptome-wide RNA sequencing was performed to evaluate changes in gene expression associated with stress response, growth regulation, and metabolic adaptation. The generated dataset provides comprehensive insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to nanoplastic exposure. These data are expected to be valuable for the scientific community by contributing to the understanding of plant nanoplastic interactions, advancing environmental risk assessment of plastic pollution in agriculture, and supporting future studies on crop resilience to emerging contaminants