Abstract
Nanofertilizers are increasingly explored for sustainable micronutrient delivery in agriculture. Pre-treating seeds with nanofertilizers prior to planting (i.e., seed priming) reduces concerns about nanoparticle (NP) fertilizer non-target dispersion; however, priming formulations and concentrations must be carefully selected to avoid germination inhibition and toxicity. Here we investigate changes in corn seed germination and seedling development after seed priming with ZnO NPs, ZnO bulk and ZnCl2. To evaluate the effects sterile seeds were immersed in priming solutions of 0, 20, 40, 80, 160 mg L−1 Zn for the three Zn sources. Following an 8 h priming the seeds were evaluated for germination and vigor for 5 days on germination paper. Root and shoot lengths were measured as well as fresh and dry biomass. Compared to the control, the ZnO NP and ZnCl2 seed priming promoted beneficial effects. ZnO NP seed-priming exhibited a concentration dependent profile in improving seedling growth, with greatest benefit around 80 mg L−1, providing 17%, 25% and 12% higher values than control for germination, root length, and dry biomass production, respectively. In contrast, seeds primed with bulk ZnO did not differ from the control. These findings support NP-seed priming as an alternative to delivery of essential micronutrients, such as zinc, to corn seedlings.
Highlights
Nanoparticle (NP) engineering is a promising a tool for several areas, including food science and agriculture
It should be noted that all of the concentrations of ZnO NPs were better or equal to germination and vigor in the controls (8 h seed priming in pure water)
In the present study it was demonstrated that corn seed priming with an aqueous suspension of ZnO NP for concentrations around 70 and 100 mg L−1, promoted significant gains in germination, vigor, root length and total fresh and dry biomass production, as well as decrease in abnormal seedlings when compared to the same concentration of soluble and bulk source tested, and to the control primed in pure water
Summary
Nanoparticle (NP) engineering is a promising a tool for several areas, including food science and agriculture. Applications in these areas have been gaining prominence, mainly regarding food biofortification to supply or alleviate human nutritional deficiency [1]. While nanotechnology applications are commonplace in many industries, the application and effects of NPs in agriculture is still very incipient [1]. NPs are often extremely reactive due to of their high specific surface area (30–50 m2 g−1 ), promoting catalytic activity and rapid chemical reactions, which can lead to positive and negative impacts when applied as nanofertilizers in complex biological systems [5]
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