Applications of copper and silver nanoparticles on wheat plants to induce drought tolerance and increase yield

Abstract

Drought adversely affects the yield, quality and nutritional value of the crop plants. Additionally, it causes unrest in society and economic loss to the farmers and governments. The present study involved the applications of nanoparticles to induce drought tolerance and improve yield in the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants. Green chemical methods were used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). CuNPs were used in 0, 3, 5 and 7 mg/L and 0, 10, 20 and 30 mg/ L of AgNPs were tested at À 4, À 6 and À 8 bars osmotic potential in laboratory experiments and 40%, 60% and 80% field capacity (FC) in the glasshouse experiments were maintained. The solution culture experiments revealed significantly higher chlorophyll stability index (CSI), leaf succulence (LS) and leaf K (LK) content in plants treated with 03 mg/L of CuNPs and 10 mg/L of AgNPs, indicated the positive role of CuNPs and AgNPs in drought tolerance of wheat. A similar trend was observed for stomatal conductance (SC) and morphological parameters with the applications of Cu and Ag nanoparticles at different levels of field capacity. The results of this study provide the experimental evidence to use CuNPs and AgNPs to induce drought resistance and improve yield in the wheat plants by a satisfactory increase in nutrients uptake and water retention. Farooq Ahmed and Bilal Javed contributed equally to this study, so consider both as first authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Plant-Based Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Trigger Biochemical and Proteome Modifications in Triticum aestivum L. under Biotic Stress of Puccinia striiformis

“…Crop yield and quality depend on the ability of plants to cope with various types of biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) start to accumulate due to these environmental stresses in plant cells; as a result, plants suffer from severe oxidative damage, which affects growth, productivity, and yield [11,12,32]. Plants possess various defense mechanisms that are activated during stress.…”

Exogenous Applications of Bio-fabricated Silver Nanoparticles to Improve Biochemical, Antioxidant, Fatty Acid and Secondary Metabolite Contents of Sunflower

“…The capillary action and the root pressure extracts excess nutrient from the soil through the process of sedimentation. In addition, a strong and extensive root branching system also enhances nutrient availability which helps to increase the plant height and other morphological parameters [ 1 , 2 ].…”

“…The capillary action and the root pressure extracts excess nutrient from the soil through the process of sedimentation. In addition, a strong and extensive root branching system also enhances nutrient availability which helps to increase the plant height and other morphological parameters [1,2]. In the current study, it was also examined that there was a reduction in the number of days of the flowering and 50% of flowering after the applications of AgNPs (Figure 3).…”

“…The demand for food is increasing with every passing year because of the drastic increase in the world’s population. It is estimated that the world’s population will reach 9.2 billion people at the end of 2050 [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This rapid increase in the population will require a 70% increase in the world’s agricultural production to meet the growing demand for food, compared with today’s levels.…”

“…AgNPs have the potential to trigger the growth of plants; enhance secondary metabolism to produce higher amounts of phenolics and flavonoids, fatty acids and lipids; and enhance other morphological parameters, such as shoot length, flowering and seed yield. Looking at the immense need to bridge the gaps related to sunflower yield and the important features of AgNPs, this study was designed to investigate the effects of AgNPs on the growth, seed quality, oil yield and secondary metabolism of the sunflower plant [ 2 , 10 ].…”