The Contribution of Nano-Selenium in Alleviation of Salinity Adverse Effects on Coriander Plants

Abstract

Nanotechnology is the field of science that opens a large scope of novel application in various fields, especially agricultural biotechnology. Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for humans and animals and appears to be a beneficial element for many plants. There is increasing evidence showing that low selenium (Se) concentrations may build resistance of plants to environmental stresses. For this purpose, a pot experiment was carried out at The Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt, during the spring season of 2016, to investigate the potential alleviation of salinity adverse effects by Se application as a foliar spray in the form of selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) in two concentrations (0 and 50 ppm) on coriander (Coriandrum sativum) grown on a sandy soil irrigated with different concentrations of saline water S1 (ECw=3.12 dS m-1), S2 (ECw =6.25 dS m-1) and tap water as a control S0 (ECw=0.45 dSm-1). These experimental treatments were arranged in a split plot design in three replications. Salinity showed adverse effects on different plant growth parameters as well as total chlorophyll content. Selenium nanoparticles (Se-NP1) at 50 ppm showed the best effects on vegetative growth and total chlorophyll content of coriander plants under different salinity levels of irrigation water. Increasing salinity resulted in decreasing N and K contents in the leaves of coriander plants, but Na increased as a result of some sort of antagonism with K; in spite of that, N and K contents in coriander leaves increased with foliar application of selenium nanoparticles (Se-NP1) at rate of 50 ppm to be higher concentrations compared to distilled water added to the spray as a control 0 ppm (Se-NP0). Values of Na/K ratio in coriander leaves increased as the salinity levels increased while, K/Na ratio was decreased. On the contrary, the values of Na/K ratio decreased with (Se-NP1) spraying at rate of 50 ppm, but K/Na ratio was increased at the same spraying rate under all salinity levels. It is concluded that application of selenium nanoparticles can mitigate salt stress damages on coriander plants; it also leads to increasing in K concentrations and decreasing in Na concentrations under salt stress.