High-salinity (HS) stress is a global element restricting
agricultural
productivity. Rice is a significant food crop, but soil salinity has
a detrimental impact on its yield and product quality. Nanoparticles
(NPs) have been found as a mitigation method against different abiotic
stresses, even HS stress. In this study, chitosan-magnesium oxide
NPs (CMgO NPs) were used as a new method for rice plants to alleviate
salt stress (200 mM NaCl). The results showed that 100 mg/L CMgO NPs
greatly ameliorated salt stress by enhancing the root length by 37.47%,
dry biomass by 32.86%, plant height by 35.20%, and tetrapyrrole biosynthesis
in hydroponically cultured rice seedlings. The application of 100
mg/L CMgO NPs greatly alleviated salt-generated oxidative stress with
induced activities of antioxidative enzymes, catalase by 67.21%, peroxidase
by 88.01%, and superoxide dismutase by 81.19%, and decreased contents
of malondialdehyde by 47.36% and H2O2 by 39.07%
in rice leaves. The investigation of ion content in rice leaves revealed
that rice treated with 100 mg/L CMgO NPs maintained a noticeably higher
K+ level by 91.41% and a lower Na+ level by
64.49% and consequently a higher ratio of K+/Na+ than the control under HS stress. Moreover, the CMgO NPs supplement
greatly enhanced the contents of free amino acids under salt stress
in rice leaves. Therefore, our findings propose that CMgO NPs supplementation
could mitigate the salt stress in rice seedlings.