Regulatory effects of silicon nanoparticles on the growth and photosynthesis of cotton seedlings under salt and low-temperature dual stress

Abstract

Background Silicon nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) play a crucial role in plants mitigating abiotic stress. However, the regulatory mechanism of SiO2-NPs in response to multiple stress remains unclear. The objectives of this study were to reveal the regulatory mechanism of SiO2-NPs on the growth and photosynthesis in cotton seedlings under salt and low-temperature dual stress. It will provide a theoretical basis for perfecting the mechanism of crop resistance and developing the technology of cotton seedling preservation and stable yield in arid and high salt areas. Results The results showed that the salt and low-temperature dual stress markedly decreased the plant height, leaf area, and aboveground biomass of cotton seedlings by 9.58%, 15.76%, and 39.80%, respectively. While SiO2-NPs alleviated the damage of the dual stress to cotton seedling growth. In addition to reduced intercellular CO2 concentration, SiO2-NPs significantly improved the photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate of cotton seedling leaves. Additionally, stomatal length, stomatal width, and stomatal density increased with the increase in SiO2-NPs concentration. Notably, SiO2-NPs not only enhanced chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content, but also slowed the decrease of maximum photochemical efficiency, actual photochemical efficiency, photochemical quenching of variable chlorophyll, and the increase in non-photochemical quenching. Moreover, SiO2-NPs enhanced the activities of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, improved leaf water potential, and decreased abscisic acid and malondialdehyde content. All the parameters obtained the optimal effects at a SiO2-NPs concentration of 100 mg L− 1, and significantly increased the plant height, leaf area, and aboveground biomass by 7.68%, 5.37%, and 43.00%, respectively. Furthermore, significant correlation relationships were observed between photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance, stomatal length, stomatal width, stomatal density, chlorophyll content, maximum photochemical efficiency, actual photochemical efficiency, photochemical quenching of variable chlorophyll, and Rubisco activity. Conclusion The results suggested that the SiO2-NPs improved the growth and photosynthesis of cotton seedlings might mainly result from regulating the stomatal state, improving the light energy utilization efficiency and electron transport activity of PSII reaction center, and inducing the increase of Rubisco activity to enhance carbon assimilation under the salt and low-temperature dual stress.

Research Progress on Plant Responses to Stress Combinations in the Context of Climate Change

“…Plant nanobiotechnology is an emerging field that aims to regulate plant stress responses [ 81 ], and several nanomaterials have shown promise in enhancing the resistance of crops, such as Gossypium herbaceum [ 81 ] and Oryza sativa [ 82 ], to challenging environmental conditions. Nanomaterials can enhance plant resistance by enhancing ROS-activated stress signaling pathways, regulating the expression of defense genes and stomatal status, increasing the efficiency of PSII response centers, and stress-training plants to enhance resistance [ 38 , 82 , 83 ]. Genome editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 are also important tools for studying plant responses to stress combinations [ 84 ], which allow editing of the genome in a highly accurate way to obtain desired traits [ 85 ], and have been successfully applied to a wide range of plants such as cereals [ 86 ] and fruit trees [ 87 ], as well as to pest management [ 88 ].…”