In this study, growth and ionomic responses of three duckweed species were analyzed, namely Lemna minor, Landoltia punctata, and Spirodela polyrhiza, were exposed for short-term periods to hexavalent chromium or nickel under laboratory conditions. It was found that different duckweed species had distinct ionomic patterns that can change considerably due to metal treatments. The results also show that, because of the stress-induced increase in leaf mass-to-area ratio, the studied species showed different order of metal uptake efficiency if plant area was used as unit of reference instead of the traditional dry weight-based approach. Furthermore, this study revealed that μXRF is applicable in mapping elemental distributions in duckweed fronds. By using this method, we found that within-frond and within-colony compartmentation of metallic ions were strongly metal- and in part species-specific. Analysis of duckweed ionomics is a valuable approach in exploring factors that affect bioaccumulation of trace pollutants by these plants. Apart from remediating industrial effluents, this aspect will gain relevance in food and feed safety when duckweed biomass is produced for nutritional purposes.

Soil contamination caused by the presence of Cd and the excess amount of Zn is a widespread concern in agricultural areas, posing significant risks to the growth and development of crops. In this paper, the early-stage development and metal (Cd and Zn) accumulation potential of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) grown under different metal application schemes were assessed by determining radicle and hypocotyl length and the micro- and macro elemental composition of plantlets after 24, 72, and 120 h. The results indicated that the single and co-application of Cd and Zn significantly reduced the radicle and hypocotyl lengths. Accumulation intensity for Cd and Zn was affected by Cd and the combination of Cd and Zn in the solution, respectively. In addition, both metals significantly influenced the tissue Mn and had a minor effect on Cu and Fe concentrations. Both Cd and Zn significantly affected macro element concentrations by decreasing tissue Ca and influencing K and Mg concentrations in a dose- and exposure time-dependent manner. These findings specify the short-term and support the long-term use of rapeseed in remediation processes. However, interactions of metals are crucial in determining the concentration patterns in tissues, which deserves more attention in future investigations.

Bacterial–fungal polymicrobial infections are clinically important, but the early response of Candidozyma (Candida) auris to Pseudomonas aeruginosa remains incompletely understood. We investigated early fungal growth, extracellular glucose and metal availability, transcriptional adaptation, and pathogen burden using in vitro co-culture, RNA sequencing, nutrient measurements, and a murine co-infection model. Within 2 h, C. auris increased from 3.3 ± 0.6 × 10⁶ to 7.1 ± 0.8 × 10⁶ colony-forming units (CFU)/mL in monoculture, but reached only 4.9 ± 0.4 × 10⁶ CFU/mL in co-culture. At 2 h, extracellular glucose concentrations were comparable between monoculture and co-culture despite reduced accumulation of viable C. auris cells in co-culture. Transcriptomics identified 210 upregulated and 124 downregulated genes, indicating remodelling of translation, carbon metabolism, stress responses, lipid metabolism, and cell-surface organization. Although iron-homeostasis genes were regulated, extracellular iron and zinc did not differ significantly at 2 h. Subsequently, extracellular iron concentration was significantly lower in co-culture at 4 h, whereas a reduction in zinc concentration at 6 h did not remain statistically significant. In vivo, co-infection reduced C. auris kidney burden by 1.4-log₁₀, without significantly altering bacterial burden. These findings show that early bacterial interaction is associated with reduced fungal proliferation and induces transcriptional changes before detectable effects in extracellular iron and zinc, supporting a multifactorial interaction involving metabolic adaptation and subsequent environmental changes.