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Silicon Nanoparticle Application on Thymus serpyllum Under Drought and Salinity Stress in Vitro

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Abstract

The primary objective of this work was to ascertain whether silicon oxide nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) could improve the growth and volatile oil productivity under abiotic stress. The Thymus serpyllum shoots obtained in vitro were cultivated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium that had been strengthened with various NaCl at 0.0, 25, 50, and 100 mM. SiO2-NPs at a level of 100 mg/L were combined with sorbitol at 0.0, 15, 30, and 45 g/L or polyethylene glycol (PEG) at 0.0, 1, 2, and 4% as drought stress agents. The vegetative growth, root development, proline content, and volatile oil were measured. The maximum values of shoot number, root number, and root percentage in terms of salinity were found in the MS medium with 100 mg/L SiO2-NPs + 25 mM NaCl. The combination of 100 mg/L SiO2-NPs plus 15 g/L sorbitol produced the highest value of parameters, with the exception of shoot and root length. At 100 mM NaCl, salinity led to the greatest concentration of proline. When SiO2-NPs with PEG were applied, the shoots survived, and there was a considerable proline deposit at 100 mg/L SiO2-NPs + 2% PEG. At 100 mg/L SiO2-NPs + 30 g/L sorbitol, the largest percentage of volatile oil was found to exist, with thymol as its main constituent.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BA:

6-Benzyl adenine

PGE:

Polyethelengylicol

IBA:

Iindole-3-butyric acid

2iP:

N6-(2-isopentenyl) adenine

Kin:

Kinetin

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

NAA:

α-Naphthalene acetic acid

PGRs:

Plant growth regulators

SiO2-NPs:

Silicon oxide nanoparticles

Si:

Silicon

EDX:

Energy-dispersive X-ray

NaCl:

Sodium chloride

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

Conc.:

Concentration

FW:

Fresh weight

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Unit, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department, Desert Research Center, 1 Mathaf El-Matareya Street, El-Matareya, Cairo, 11753, Egypt

    Weal I. M. Toaiema

  2. Tissue Culture Unit, Plant Genetic Resources Department, Desert Research Center, 1 Mathaf El-Matareya Street, El-Matareya, Cairo, 11753, Egypt

    Sabha S. S. Mustafa

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Contributions

S M put the plan of the in vitro propagation section, did the in vitro propagation of the plant and did the analysis of data, written the manuscript and revised it, and corresponding the publication. W T did the extraction of proline , essential oil and analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sabha S. S. Mustafa.

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Key message

Silicon nanoparticles were applied to improve the growth and accumulation of volatile oil under salinity and drought stresses in Thymus serpyllum in vitro.

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Toaiema, W.I.M., Mustafa, S.S.S. Silicon Nanoparticle Application on Thymus serpyllum Under Drought and Salinity Stress in Vitro. BioNanoSci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12668-024-01332-0

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