Plant, Soil and Environment, 2026 (vol. 72), issue 7
Chronic laboratory exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of Mospilan 20 SP (acetamiprid): effects and molecular responses in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)Original Paper
Imrich Szabó, Rastislav Sabo, Martin Staroň, Štefan Tutka, Marek Ratvaj, Lucia Sabová, Monika Sučik
Plant Soil Environ., 2026, 72(7):403-412 | DOI: 10.17221/228/2026-PSE 
Bees were exposed for 10 days to a sucrose solution containing acetamiprid at concentrations of 48, 4.8, and 0.48 mg a.i./kg of solution, corresponding to the maximum recommended field application rate and its 1/10 and 1/100 dilutions. An increase in mortality was observed at the highest tested concentration, with a cumulative mortality of 30.4% by day 10, whereas lower concentrations showed effects comparable to the control. In addition, the expression of selected genes related to detoxification (glutathione S-transferase, thioredoxin reductase), oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase 1, superoxide dismutase 2), immunity (abaecin, hymenoptaecin, apidaecin),...
The effects of post-anthesis shading on starch granule size distribution and viscosity parameters in waxy and non-waxy soft wheatOriginal Paper
Jing Li, Tingting Yang, Ruilian Zhang, Yang Liu, Abdul Rehman, Xiaomin Shang, Suhui Yan, Wenyang Li
Plant Soil Environ., 2026, 72(7):413-426
To clarify the effects of post-anthesis low light on grain yield and starch quality of waxy and non-waxy soft wheat, a field experiment was conducted from 2023 to 2025. Two wheat cultivars, Jinuo 2 (waxy soft wheat) and Quanmai 725 (non-waxy soft wheat), were employed as test materials, and four shading treatments (no shading, 10% shading, 20% shading, and 30% shading) were applied after anthesis. The regulatory effects of different shading intensities on wheat yield, grain quality, starch granule size distribution and starch viscosity properties were systematically analysed. The results showed that post-anthesis low light stress significantly reduced...
The effects of cadmium on the AsA-GSH cycle and antioxidant compounds in different cultivars of perennial ryegrassOriginal Paper
Junlong Wang, Li Cao, Jinhuan Yi, Kai Zhou, Guilian Shan, Na Jiang
Plant Soil Environ., 2026, 72(7):427-437
Cadmium (Cd) is a common heavy metal contaminant in agricultural soils; its high bioaccumulation potential and toxicity mean it enters the human body via the food chain, posing a health risk. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is renowned for its high tolerance to heavy metal toxicity and is frequently used in phytoremediation. This study examined growth morphology, activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as non-enzymatic antioxidant contents in two perennial ryegrass cultivars: WNS (Venus, low Cd accumulation) and YY (Excellent, high...
Foliar proline alleviates drought stress in peppermint via consistent growth and essential oil benefits, with stress-dependent regulation of ion balance and abscisic acidOriginal Paper
Abeer H. Elhakem, Amira Hassan
Plant Soil Environ., 2026, 72(7):438-454
This study examined whether exogenous proline (Pro, 10 mmol/L, foliar) uniformly alleviates drought stress in peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) or whether its benefit intensifies with increasing stress severity. Plants were grown under four water field capacity (WFC) levels (95, 75, 50, 25%), with or without Pro, in a 4 × 2 factorial randomised design. Two-way ANOVA (Levene’s test confirmed homogeneous variance) partitioned each variable into WFC and Pro main effects and their interaction, followed by Tukey’s HSD (P < 0.05). Water deficit reduced growth and relative water content, increased osmolytes, disrupted...