Assessment of the effects of metal oxide nanoparticles on the growth, physiology and metabolic responses in in vitro grown eggplant (Solanum melongena)

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in various domestic products and their usage is constantly increasing which in turn can raise several environmental health issues. Like other abiotic stresses, nanomaterials also affect the growth of crop plants. is a common vegetable crop grown in the tropics and subtropics regions with medicinal properties. In this study, was analyzed for its response to three commercially important metallic nanoparticles, namely NiO, CuO, and ZnO, at four different concentrations (100, 250, 500 and 1000 mg/L). The growth of the eggplant seedlings was suppressed by all the NPs in a concentration-dependent manner and among them, NiO was shown to be more toxic as it suppressed the root and shoot growth effectively. Total chlorophyll contents were decreased in the NP-treated plants compared to control plants. Significant changes were found in the secondary metabolites such as anthocyanins, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in the NP-treated plants. A dose-dependent increase in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was noticed in the NP-treated plants which are evidenced by the 4-nitro blue tetrazolium chloride (NBT) and 3,3'-diamiobenzidine (DAB) histochemical staining. The DNA damage imposed by the NP in the seedlings of eggplants may be due to the elevated ROS and MDA (malondialdehyde) production. NiO NP was found to be more toxic comparable to CuO and ZnO NPs in the present study. Apart from the toxic effects, nanoparticles also showed profound effects on the production of important secondary metabolites such as phenolics and flavonoid compounds.

Efficacy Assessment of Biosynthesized Copper Oxide Nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on Stored Grain Insects and Their Impacts on Morphological and Physiological Traits of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Plant

“…Hafeez et al [ 87 ] observed that soils amended with copper NPs at concentrations from 10 to 30 ppm significantly increased the growth of wheat. In another study, the root and shoot length of the eggplant seedlings was increased as compared to control plants due to treatment with a lower CuO-NP concentration (100 mg/L) [ 88 ]. The increased length of the seedlings at these concentrations indicates the growth-promoting ability of CuO-NPs at lower concentrations [ 88 ].…”

Physiological and anti-oxidative response of biologically and chemically synthesized iron oxide: Zea mays a case study

“…The TAC increased significantly (12%) in the case of 25 mg/L of chemically synthesized NRs as compared to control. Among biologically synthesized NRs, all concentrations produced a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decline in TAC as compared to positive and negative control [ 36 , 37 ]. The TPC showed a minimum variation between the two sources of NRs, however, the effect of dose was significant ( Figure 7 d).…”

Advances in nanomaterials as novel elicitors of pharmacologically active plant specialized metabolites: current status and future outlooks

“…Details of available literature on any phytotoxicity caused by NPs is also given in Tables 1, 2 and 3. To summarize the available literature, a consensus exists on the application of high concentration of nanomaterials. 20,80,92 This was, for example, illustrated by 40 with plantlets of C. officinalis exposed to AgNPs at 400 mg L À1 . Similarly, phytotoxic effects were observed on seedling of S. melongena 80 treated with 1000 mg L À1 CuO, ZnO or NiO NPs.…”