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Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) stimulated secondary metabolism and mitigated toxicity of salinity stress in basil (Ocimum basilicum) by modulating gene expression: a sustainable approach for crop protection

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Abstract

The underlying mechanisms through which silicon oxide nanoparticles (SiNPs) can confer salinity resistance to plants are poorly understood. This study explored the efficacy of supplementing nutrient solution with SiNPs (20–30 nm; 10 mg kg−1 soil) to stimulate metabolism and alleviate the risks associated with salinity (0.73 g kg−1 soil) in basil seedlings. For this purpose, variations in photosynthetic indices, proline osmoprotectant, antioxidant markers, phenylpropanoid metabolism, and transcriptional behaviors of genes were investigated. SiNPs increased shoot fresh weight (38%) and mitigated the risk associated with the salinity stress by 14%. SiNPs alleviated the inhibitory effects of salinity on the total chlorophyll concentration by 15%. The highest increase (twofold) in proline content was recorded in the SiNP-treated seedlings grown under salinity. The nano-supplement enhanced the activity of enzymatic antioxidants, including peroxidase (2.5-fold) and catalase (4.7-fold). SiNPs induced the expression of gamma-cadinene synthase (CDS) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes by 6.5- and 18.3-fold, respectively. SiNPs upregulated the eugenol synthase (EGS1) and fenchol synthase (FES) genes by six- and nine-fold, respectively. Salinity transcriptionally downregulated the geraniol synthase (GES) gene, while this gene displayed an upward trend in response to SiNPs by eight-fold. The nano-supplement transcriptionally stimulated the R-linalool synthase (LIS) gene by 3.3-fold. The terpinolene synthase (TES) gene displayed a similar trend to that of the GES gene. The highest expression (25-fold) of the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) gene was recorded in seedlings supplemented with SiNPs. The physiological and molecular assessments demonstrated that employing SiNPs is a sustainable strategy for improving plant primary/secondary metabolism and crop protection.

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The datasets used in this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Sepasi, Alireza Iranbakhsh & Sara Saadatmand

  2. Department of Biology, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran

    Mostafa Ebadi

  3. Department of Biology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran

    Zahra Oraghi Ardebili

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  1. Maryam Sepasi
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  2. Alireza Iranbakhsh
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Contributions

M.S.: resources, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, review, and editing; A.I.: conceptualization, visualization, investigation, formal analysis, writing-original draft, review, and editing; S.S.: conceptualization, visualization, investigation, formal analysis, methodology, writing, review, and editing; M.E.: conceptualization, visualization, investigation, formal analysis, Software analysis, writing, review, and editing. Z.O.A.: conceptualization, visualization, investigation, methodology, review, and editing; all authors contributed, seen, and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alireza Iranbakhsh.

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Sepasi, M., Iranbakhsh, A., Saadatmand, S. et al. Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) stimulated secondary metabolism and mitigated toxicity of salinity stress in basil (Ocimum basilicum) by modulating gene expression: a sustainable approach for crop protection. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 16485–16496 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32260-x

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