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Multi-walled carbon nanotubes can enhance root elongation of wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants

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Abstract

The potential effects of oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (o-MWCNTs) with a length ranging from 50 to 630 nm on the development and physiology of wheat plants were evaluated by examining their effects on seed germination, root elongation, stem length, and vegetative biomass at a concentration ranging from 10 to 160 μg/mL in the plant. Results indicated that after 7 days of exposure to the o-MWCNTs medium, faster root growth and higher vegetative biomass were observed, but seed germination and stem length did not show any difference as compared with controls. Moreover, a physiological study was conducted at cellular level using a traditional physiological approach to evidence the possible alterations in morphology, the cell length of root zone, and the dehydrogenase activity of seedlings. Transmission electron microscopy images revealed that o-MWCNTs could penetrate the cell wall and enter the cytoplasm after being taken up by roots. The cell length of root zone for the seedlings germinated and grown in the o-MWCNTs (80 μg/mL) medium increased by 1.4-fold and a significant concentration-dependent increase in the dehydrogenase activity for the o-MWCNT-treated wheat seedlings was detected. These findings suggest that o-MWCNTs can significantly promote cell elongation in the root system and increase the dehydrogenase activity, resulting in faster root growth and higher biomass production.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support for this research by National Natural Science Foundation of China (20975042, 21175051), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (2010PY009, 2011PY139) and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Innovation Team (2011CDA115).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuping Wang, Heyou Han, Xueqin Liu, Xiaoxu Gu, Kun Chen & Donglian Lu

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  1. Xiuping Wang
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  2. Heyou Han
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  3. Xueqin Liu
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  4. Xiaoxu Gu
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Correspondence to Heyou Han.

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Wang, X., Han, H., Liu, X. et al. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes can enhance root elongation of wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants. J Nanopart Res 14, 841 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-0841-5

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