Abstract
Heavy metals (HMs) especially cadmium (Cd) absorbed by the roots of crop plants like maize have emerged as one of the most serious threats by causing stunted plant growth along with disturbing the photosynthetic machinery and nutrient homeostasis process. A trial was conducted for inducing Cd stress tolerance in maize by exogenous application of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) using five doses of SiNPs (0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 ppm) and three levels of Cd (0, 15, and 30 ppm) for maize hybrid (SF-9515). The response variables included morphological traits and biochemical parameters of maize. The results indicated that Cd level of 30 ppm remained the most drastic for maize plants by recording the minimum traits such as shoot length (39.35 cm), shoot fresh weight (9.52 g) and shoot dry weight (3.20 g), leaf pigments such as chlorophyll a (0.55 mg/g FW), chlorophyll b (0.27 mg/g FW), total contents (0.84 mg/g FW), and carotenoid contents (0.19 µg/g FW). Additionally, the same Cd level disrupted biochemical traits such as TSP (4.85 mg/g FW), TP (252.94 nmol/g FW), TSAA (18.92 µmol g−1 FW), TSS (0.85 mg/g FW), and antioxidant activities such as POD (99.39 min−1 g−1 FW), CAT (81.58 min−1 g−1 FW), APX (2.04 min−1 g−1 FW), and SOD (172.79 min−1 g−1 FW). However, a higher level of Cd resulted in greater root length (87.63 cm), root fresh weight (16.43 g), and root dry weight (6.14 g) along with higher Cd concentration in the root (2.52 µg/g−1) and shoot (0.48 µg/g−1). The silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) treatment significantly increased all measured attributes of maize. The highest value was noted of all the parameters such as chlorophyll a (0.91 mg/g FW), chlorophyll b (0.57 mg/g FW), total chlorophyll contents (1.48 mg/g FW), total carotenoid contents (0.40 µg/g FW), TSP (6.12 mg/g FW), TP (384.56 nmol/g FW), TSAA (24.64 µmol g−1 FW), TSS (1.87 mg/g FW), POD (166.10 min−1 g−1 FW), CAT (149.54 min−1 g−1 FW), APX (3.49 min−1 g−1 FW), and SOD (225.57 min−1 g−1 FW). Based on recorded findings, it might be inferred that higher levels of Cd tend to drastically reduce morpho-physiological traits of maize and foliage-applied silver nanoparticles hold the potential to ameliorate the adverse effect of Cd stress on maize.
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Abbreviations
- HMs:
-
Heavy metals
- CRD:
-
Complete randomized design
- Si:
-
Silicon
- Si NPs:
-
Silicon nanoparticles
- TSP:
-
Total soluble protein
- TP:
-
Total proline
- TSAA:
-
Total soluble amino acid
- TSS:
-
Total soluble sugar
- POD:
-
Peroxidase dismutase
- CAT:
-
Catalase
- APX:
-
Ascorbate peroxidase
- SOD:
-
Superoxide dismutase
- Cd:
-
Cadmium
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge technical and financial support provided by the Ministry of Education and King Abdulaziz University, DSR, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We are thankful to University of Central Punjab Constituent College Yazman Road Bahawalpur for sharing lab facilities and providing space for research experiments.
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This work was funded by Institutional Fund Projects under grant No. (IFPIP: 439–130-1443), Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia.
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ZA and MI planned and supervised the research; SA conducted the research work and wrote the introduction part; ZA wrote the manuscript; SA and ZA did the static analysis and graphical representation; MAI and HFA read the manuscript as proofreading and arranged it according to the journal style; AA provided reagents and assisted in the analytical work; and AH and AES did the editing and improved the English language quality of the manuscript.
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Ahmed, S., Iqbal, M., Ahmad, Z. et al. Foliar application of silicon-based nanoparticles improve the adaptability of maize (Zea mays L.) in cadmium contaminated soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 41002–41013 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25189-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25189-0