One of the challenges for climate-smart agriculture and ecosystem restoration is mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study evaluated how plant-microbe interactions mitigate GHG emissions in terrestrial soils and identified the biological mechanisms underpinning these effects. A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. We retrieved 2,647 studies, and 24 met the inclusion criteria. We assessed study quality using predefined criteria and synthesized findings using a semi-quantitative approach. Most studies reported that plant-microbe interactions in terrestrial soils substantially reduce GHG emissions. Plant species mainly involved in the plant-microbe interactions are rice (17.9%), maize (14.3%), and tomato (10.7%). Fungi (53.6%), bacteria (42.9%), and archaea (3.6%) dominated the microbial groups. Of all the taxa, Bacillus had the highest occurrence (14.3%), followed by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (12.2%), Rhizophagus (10.2%), and Pseudomonas (6.1%). Mechanisms involved have been proposed to include carbon sequestration, regulation of nitrification and denitrification pathways, and stimulation of methane oxidation. The decrease substantially outweighed the increase across all GHGs. Up to 30.23% of the studies reported decreased carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and 13.95% reported decreased methane (CH4) emissions. Studies reporting increased emissions accounted for 4.65%, 6.98%, and 4.65% of the total for CO2, N2O, and CH4, respectively. The substantial decrease relative to the increase across all gases indicates a net mitigation effect and suggests the potential of plant-microbe partnerships as practical, natural ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) are sub-class of perfluoroalkyl substances commonly detected in water matrices. They are persistent in the environment, hence highly toxic to living organisms. Their occurrence at trace amount, complex nature and prone to matrix interference make their extraction and detection a challenge. This study consolidates current advancements in solid-phase extraction (SPE) techniques for the trace-level analysis of PFCAs from water matrices. The advantages of the methods in terms of ease of applications, low-cost, robustness, low solvents consumption, high pre-concentration factors, better extraction efficiency, good selectivity and recovery of the analytes have been emphasized. The article also demonstrated effectiveness of some porous materials for the adsorptive removal of the PFCAs from the water matrices. Mechanisms of the SPE/adsorption techniques have been discussed. The success and limitations of the processes have been elucidated.
The widespread consumption of pharmaceutical drugs and their incomplete breakdown in organisms has led to their extensive presence in aquatic environments. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics, such as sulfonamides, has contributed to the development of drug-resistant bacteria and the persistent pollution of water bodies, posing a threat to human health and the safety of the environment. Thus, it is paramount to explore remediation technologies aimed at decomposing and complete elimination of the toxic contaminants from pharmaceutical wastewater. The review aims to explore the utilization of metal-oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) and graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) in photocatalytic degradation of sulfonamides from wastewater. Recent advances in oxidation techniques such as photocatalytic degradation are being exploited in the elimination of the sulfonamides from wastewater. MONP and g-C3N4 are commonly evolved nano substances with intrinsic properties. They possessed nano-scale structure, considerable porosity semi-conducting properties, responsible for decomposing wide range of water pollutants. They are widely applied for photocatalytic degradation of organic and inorganic substances which continue to evolve due to the low-cost, efficiency, less toxicity, and more environmentally friendliness of the materials. The review focuses on the current advances in the application of these materials, their efficiencies, degradation mechanisms, and recyclability in the context of sulfonamides photocatalytic degradation.
Frequent detection of sulfonamides (SAs) pharmaceuticals in wastewater has necessitated the discovery of suitable technology for their sustainable remediation. Adsorption has been widely investigated due to its effectiveness, simplicity, and availability of various adsorbent materials from natural and artificial sources. This review highlighted the potentials of carbon-based adsorbents derived from agricultural wastes such as lignocellulose, biochar, activated carbon, carbon nanotubes graphene materials as well as organic polymers such as chitosan, molecularly imprinted polymers, metal, and covalent frameworks for SAs removal from wastewater. The promising features of these materials including higher porosity, rich carbon-content, robustness, good stability as well as ease of modification have been emphasized. Thus, the materials have demonstrated excellent performance towards the SAs removal, attributed to their porous nature that provided sufficient active sites for the adsorption of SAs molecules. The modification of physico-chemical features of the materials have been discussed as efficient means for enhancing their adsorption and reusable performance. The article also proposed various interactive mechanisms for the SAs adsorption. Lastly, the prospects and challenges have been highlighted to expand the knowledge gap on the application of the materials for the sustainable removal of the SAs.