Abstract
Simple SummaryThe experiment conducted on Solanum lycopersicum provided an insight about Cd uptake, and the way a Solanum lycopersicum changes its physiological, biochemical and morphological responses when CTS-NPs are administered against Cd. As an effective important polymer, CTS-NPs enhanced the plant biomass, SPAD index, photosynthetic rate, and protein content in the Solanum lycopersicum plants grown in Cd stress, as a study herein. Addition of CTS-NPs reduced Cd accumulation by increasing the nutrient uptake. Furthermore, CTS-NPs treatment enhances tolerance to Cd stress through hampering ROS production accompanied by H2O2 activity, through reducing the peroxidation of lipids by minimizing MDA content, and through improving enzymatic (CAT, POX, SOD), non-enzymatic (GSH and AsA), and osmoprotectants (proline) antioxidant contents that are considered as a first line of defense to protect plants from stress.Cadmium (Cd) stress is increasing at a high pace and is polluting the agricultural land. As a result, it affects animals and the human population via entering into the food chain. The aim of this work is to evaluate the possibility of amelioration of Cd stress through chitosan nanoparticles (CTS-NPs). After 15 days of sowing (DAS), Solanum lycopersicum seedlings were transplanted into maintained pots (20 in number). Cadmium (0.8 mM) was providing in the soil as CdCl2·2.5H2O at the time of transplanting; however, CTS-NPs (100 µg/mL) were given through foliar spray at 25 DAS. Data procured from the present experiment suggests that Cd toxicity considerably reduces the plant morphology, chlorophyll fluorescence, in addition to photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant enzyme activity and protein content. However, foliar application of CTS-NPs was effective in increasing the shoot dry weight (38%), net photosynthetic rate (45%) and SPAD index (40%), while a decrease in malondialdehyde (24%) and hydrogen peroxide (20%) was observed at the 30 DAS stage as compared to control plants. On behalf of the current results, it is demonstrated that foliar treatment of CTS-NPs might be an efficient approach to ameliorate the toxic effects of Cd.
Highlights
Nanotechnology is an important rising field, owing to several important functions in copious research areas [1]
The dry weight of Solanum lycopersicum grown under Cd stress was decreased as compared to control; plants treated with chitosan nanoparticles (CTS-NPs) (100 μg/mL) showed a significant enhancement in the dry weight of shoot and root by 37.6% and 9.7% compared to the control, respectively (Figure 1A,B)
Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) Index The Cd toxicity caused a reduction in the SPAD index of Solanum lycopersicum in comparison to the control, but a considerable increase in chlorophyll content was observed in plants treated with 100 μg/mL of CTS-NPs grown under Cd stress (Figure 1C)
Summary
Nanotechnology is an important rising field, owing to several important functions in copious research areas [1]. There are a number of NPs of diverse origin which can be used for multiple agricultural applications [5,6]. These particles are playing a vital role in plant tolerance to several biotic and abiotic stresses [7,8,9,10]. NPs speed-up the functioning of antioxidant enzymes, diminishing the accretion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells, ameliorating stress effects leading to a better growth and yield [17,18]
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