Biotransformation of Acetaminophen in Rice Phyllosphere: Xenobiotic-Plant-Microbiota Interactions

The biotransformation of acetaminophen, a pharmaceutical contaminant widely found in crop produce, in the rice phyllosphere highlights critical xenobiotic-plant-microbiota interactions. This study investigated acetaminophen uptake, translocation, and transformation in hydroponically exposed rice shoots, revealing accumulation at 8.33 ± 0.82 μg/g and conversion into hydroxylated, glycosylated, methylated, thiomethylated, sulfonated, dimerized, and amino acid-conjugated derivatives. Specifically, these transformations may be driven by plant enzymes (cytochrome P450, glycosyltransferases, sulfotransferases, and methyltransferases) and synergistically by enriched microbial genera ( Sphingomonas, Pantoea, and Pseudomonas ). Furthermore, acetaminophen stress altered the rice phyllosphere metabolome (elevated linoleic acid and jasmonic acid) and reshaped microbial communities, with enhanced degradation pathways and network complexity indicating adaptive stress mitigation. Overall, this integrated transcriptome, metabolome, and microbiome profiling provides mechanistic insights into the cooperative detoxification role of plant enzymes and phyllosphere microbes, offering perspectives on leveraging plant-microbiota interactions to reduce xenobiotic impacts on crops and food safety.