article · Egyptian Journal of Botany
Soil salinity poses severe challenges to crop development, as high salt levels sharply reduce seed germination, restrict root and shoot growth, and impair photosynthetic function. Treating soybean seeds with zinc oxide nanoparticles can counteract these negative effects under saline stress. Severe salinity reduces germination rates by sixty-five percent alongside marked decreases in plant biomass and photosynthetic efficiency, while elevating stress markers such as proline and malondialdehyde. Presoaking seeds in zinc oxide nanoparticle solutions across concentrations from twenty-five to two hundred milligrams per litre enhances plant growth and restores photosynthetic performance under saline conditions. An optimal concentration of fifty milligrams per litre delivers the strongest recovery, reducing internal stress markers and altering antioxidant enzyme patterns. Consequently, seed priming using fifty milligrams per litre of zinc oxide nanoparticles presents an effective approach for boosting soybean productivity in saline soils.
Saline soils severely restrict crop growth, threatening food production in affected farming areas. Demonstrating that a simple seed treatment using zinc oxide nanoparticles helps soybean plants survive high salt conditions offers a practical approach to protecting yields. This provides an accessible intervention to support legume cultivation and sustain agricultural productivity on salt-degraded land.
This work points towards an application in agricultural seed priming products targeted at soybean growers operating in saline environments. The research represents early-stage applied testing, demonstrating effectiveness at a specific concentration of fifty milligrams per litre under experimental conditions. Further steps toward real-world use would require testing in field settings, developing commercial seed-coating protocols, and assessing the practical handling and regulatory compliance of nanoparticle inputs.
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AS LONG as we know, little attention has been given to evaluating roles of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnONPs) in plants grown under salinity stress. In the present study, biochemical and molecular responses of salt-stressed soybean cv. Giza111 under different ZnONPs were assessed. Treatment with a high NaCl concentration (250mM) alone caused a significant reduction (65%) in germination percentage as well as a significant decrease in all measured growth parameters (root length, shoot height, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots) and photosynthetic performance (Fv/Fm) compared to control plants. In contrast, malondialdehyde (MDA) & proline contents, and activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase CAT, peroxidase POX and superoxide dismutase SOD) were highly increased. In contrast, presoaking of soybean seeds with different concentrations of ZnONPs (25, 50, 100, 200mg/L) stimulated the growth of stressed plants which was exhibited by improved growth parameters and photosynthetic performance as well as lower levels of proline and MDA in stressed plants particularly at ZnONPs concentration of 50 mg/L compared to controls. Moreover, isozyme analysis of CAT, POX and SOD showed variable pattern of alleles at 50mg/L ZnONPs. Accordingly, these results recommend application of 50mg/L ZnONPs for improving the productivity of soybean cultivated in saline soils.
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DOI: 10.21608/ejbo.2020.26415.1475
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