Silver nanoparticles protect tillering in drought-stressed wheat by improving leaf water relations and physiological functioning

Abstract

The tillering phase of wheat (Triticum aestivum) crops is extremely susceptible to drought. We explored the potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in protecting wheat genotypes from drought injury during this sensitive stage. After treating with AgNPs (60 ppm), the plants were submitted to different water levels; i.e. 100% field capacity (FC), 75% FC (mild drought), 50% FC (moderate drought) and 25% FC (severe drought) from 15 to 41 days after sowing (tillering phase). Leaf physiological data were collected at stress termination, while yield attributes were recorded at crop maturity. We found that increasing drought intensity significantly impaired leaf physiology and grain yield of both studied genotypes. Compared with control, moderately and severely drought-stressed plants produced 25% and 45% lesser grain yield per spike, respectively (averaged across genotypes and years of study). Likewise, moderate and severe drought reduced photosynthesis by 49% and 76%, respectively, compared with control. In contrast, AgNPs significantly restored leaf physiological functioning and grain yield formation at maturity. For example, under moderate and severe drought, AgNPs-treated plants produced 22% and 17% more grains per plant, respectively, than their respective water-treated plants. Our study suggests that exogenous AgNPs can protect wheat crops from drought during early development stages.

Nanoparticles and plant adaptations to abiotic stresses

“…Tran et al (2023) found that compared with control, seeds treated with MSNs (Mesoporous silica nanoparticles) showed higher seed germination and greater primary root length in Arabidopsis. Another study by Sarwar et al (2023) showed that silver nanoparticles (60 ppm) can protect tillering in drought-stressed wheat by improving leaf water relations and physiological functioning, showing significantly restored leaf physiological functioning and increased grains per plant (up to 22%).…”

The Role of Silver Nanoparticles in Response of In Vitro Boysenberry Plants to Drought Stress

“…Researchers have reported that NP application contributes to the regulation of antioxidant enzyme activity and cellular water balance [31]. Also, some researchers stated that AgNPs have the potential to develop resistance against drought stress in different plants such as wheat [42,43], eggplant [44], thymus [45], lettuce [46] and lentil [47].…”

“…When previous reports on drought are examined, it is thought that NP applications can be an effective alternative to alleviate the negative effects of drought. As a matter of fact, different NP applications have shown positive results in reducing the effects of drought in various plants [31,32,[42][43][44]46,47], but no research reporting the effects of AgNPs on boysenberry has been found. Research to reduce yield loss due to drought is important for the future of this plant, which has important benefits for human health and high economic value.…”