Global food production is threatened due to increasing salinity and can be stabilized by improving salt tolerance of crops. In the current study, salt tolerance potential of 40 local wheat cultivars against 150 mM NaCl stress was explored. Salt treatment at seedling stage caused less reduction in biomass, K+ and P while more decline of Na+ in tolerant cultivars due to reduced translocation and enhanced exclusion of Na+ from leaves. Principal component analysis based selected S-24, LU-26S, Pasban-90 (salt tolerant) and MH-97, Kohistan-97, Inqilab-91 and Iqbal-2000 (salt sensitive) cultivars were evaluated at adult stage applying 150 mM salinity. Osmotic adjustment by accumulation of soluble sugars and proline and accelerated antioxidant enzymes activities caused efficient scavenging of reactive oxygen species making S-24 and LU-26S tolerant while in MH-97 and Kohistan-97, high MDA represent greater membrane damage due to oxidative stress making them salt sensitive. Chlorophyll a fluorescence transients confirmed better efficiency of photosystem II in S-24 and LU-26S based on energy fluxes (ABS/RC, TRo/RC, ETo/RC and DIo/RC), performance index (PIABS) and maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm). These findings can be correlated using molecular techniques to identify genes for salt exclusion, osmotic adjustment and photosynthetic activity for use in molecular breeding programs.
Aspergillus parasiticus (A. parasiticus) is known for producing aflatoxins and is a major threat to the food industry. Green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) is a cost-effective and environment-friendly approach. A variety of NPs have been explored as antifungal agents; however, their antifungal characteristics need to be further enhanced to compete with traditional fungicides. The present work describes the green synthesis of ZnO and CuO NPs by precipitation method using aqueous leaf extract of Manilkara zapota and their surface modification through polyaniline (PANI). Still, there is no published study on the application of PANI-coated particles as antifungal agents against A. parasiticus and hence was the focus of this work. The polymer-coated NPs were synthesized, characterized, and investigated for their antifungal properties against A. parasiticus. Textural and structural characterization of PANI-coated and non-coated ZnO and CuO NPs were confirmed through FT-IR, SEM, and XRD techniques. The PANI-coated NPs presented higher fungal growth inhibition (%) as compared to the non-coated ones. The maximum inhibition of 77 ± 2% (n = 3) was shown by PANI/ZnO NPs at a concentration of 12 mmol L−1 and 72 h of incubation. The non-coated NPs presented a lower inhibition rate with respect to their coated NPs, thus justifying the role of polymeric coating in improving antifungal efficiency.
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