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Tracking multi-walled carbon nanotubes inside oat (Avena sativa L.) plants and assessing their effect on growth, yield, and mammalian (human) cell viability

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Abstract

Our findings show that oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) having serpent-like morphology and smaller sizes (diameter of 35 nm and lengths of 200–300 nm) are compatible with oat plant tissues. Applied by seed-priming method as 90 µg/ml concentration, these serpentine MWCNT (having open-end caps) enter the oat plant and traverse the cells. Tracking of MWCNT inside sections and tissues during growth of oat plant has been done using special sample preparation. We present clear images of MWCNT inside the primed seeds and vascular bundles, the conducting tissues of root and shoot of oat. A dye fluorescein isothiocyanate non-covalently bonded to MWCNT also helped in detecting the path through circumferential perimeters of the oat channels, using fluorescence and confocal microscopy. The presence of MWCNT inside oat enhanced the growth of xylem cells by about 1.85-fold in vasculature of shoots. Compared to controls, the chlorophyll content increased by 57%, while photosynthetic activity enhanced by 15% for the same sample in MWCNT-primed plants. Overall, the growth factors were also augmented leading to significant increase in yield components. No toxic effects of MWCNT were observed in the DNA of the primed plants, and in the human cell lines treated with grains harvested from the MWCNT-primed plants. Our study provides some new insights about the role of MWCNT in plants and their potential benefits in agriculture.

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Acknowledgements

A. Joshi is thankful to DST, New Delhi, for financial support in the form of an INSPIRE fellowship. G.Verma acknowledges the contribution of SAP (UGC, New Delhi), PURSE (DST, New Delhi), and TEQIP-II Grants to carry out the experimentation at the Institute. The authors express their sincere gratitude to Dr. Nidarshana Chaturvedi, Department of Biochemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, for providing technical support in DNA isolation and Dr. Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Scientist, National Institute of Occupational Health, Occupational Medicine Division, Ahmedabad for cell line studies performed in National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Nutrition Science & Technology, Mohali, India. The authors also thank the DST, India for providing funding for instruments and consumables. Funding was provided by the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. IF130393 INSPIRE FELLOWSHIP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (UIEAST), Panjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Anjali Joshi & Gaurav Verma

  2. Department of Botany, Panjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Simranjeet Kaur & Harsh Nayyar

  3. CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sector 39, Chandigarh, 160036, India

    Pargat Singh

  4. Department of Physics, Panjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Keya Dharamvir

  5. Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (Formerly Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology), Panjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Gaurav Verma

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  1. Anjali Joshi
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Joshi, A., Kaur, S., Singh, P. et al. Tracking multi-walled carbon nanotubes inside oat (Avena sativa L.) plants and assessing their effect on growth, yield, and mammalian (human) cell viability. Appl Nanosci 8, 1399–1414 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-018-0801-1

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