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Heavy metal pollution poses a serious threat to crops growth and yield. Recently, nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate the negative effect of heavy metal on crop growth. This study investigated the beneficial effects of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) on the morphological and physiological-biochemical traits of rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) under cadmium (Cd) stress. The results demonstrated that the application of CuO NPs increased the contents of nutrition elements in shoots and roots as well as photosynthetic pigments, consequently improving the growth of rice seedlings under Cd stress, especially at low level of Cd stress. Meanwhile, CuO NPs obviously decreased the Cd accumulation in the rice seedlings and immobilized Cd in less toxic chemical forms and subcellular compartments. Moreover, CuO NPs modulated the antioxidant system, ameliorating oxidative damage and membrane injury caused by Cd. Multivariate analysis established correlations between physio-biochemical parameters and further revealed the mitigation of Cd damage to rice seedlings by CuO NPs was associated with inhibition Cd accumulation, altering Cd chemical form and subcellular distribution, increasing the contents of mineral nutrients, photosynthetic pigments and secondary metabolites and antioxidant enzyme activities, and reducing oxidative damage. Overall, the present study indicated that CuO NPs could effectively reduce the Cd toxicity to rice seedlings, demonstrating their potential application in agricultural production., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Green synthesis offers an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative for the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs). In this study, the synthesis of CuO NPs was optimized by using copper sulfate (CuSO 4 ) and the aqueous extract of Alpinia officinarum and its antifungal activity were investigated. The synthesized CuO NPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared radiation spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the optimized conditions for the synthesis of CuO NPs were 1:2 ratio of extract and CuSO 4 solution, pH 7, and 30 °C. The characteristic UV-vis peak of A. officinarum synthesized CuO NPs was at 264 nm. The synthesized CuO NPs had high crystallinity and purity and were spherical in morphology with the mean size of 46.40 nm. The synthesized CuO NPs reduced the fungal growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in a dose-dependent manner. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the CuO NPs were 125 μg·mL -1 and 500 μg·mL -1 , respectively. The antifungal activity of CuO NPs may be attributed to its ability to deform the structure of fungal hyphae, induce excessive reactive oxygen species accumulation and lipid peroxidation in fungi, disrupt the mycelium cell membrane, and result cellular leakage., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Lead (Pb) poses an adverse effect on plant growth and development. Glycinebetaine (GB) plays an important role in plants response to stress environment. The study was performed to examine the potential of exogenous GB (0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mM) in alleviating Pb toxicity, the physiological and biochemical responses in pakchoi under 100 μM Pb stress by hydroponic experiment. Pb stress significantly decreased the growth, contents of pigment and mineral nutrient, and activities of antioxidative enzymes (CAT, SOD, and APX) in roots and shoots of pakchoi, while it caused a significant increase in Pb and ROS accumulation both in roots and shoots of pakchoi in comparison to the control. Exogenous application of GB improved leaf and root length, fresh and dry weight, mineral nutrient, and pigment contents of pakchoi under Pb stress. GB also effectively enhanced antioxidative enzyme activities and the accumulation of proline, soluble sugar, and GB and reduced the oxidative stress and Pb contents in shoots and roots of pakchoi. Principle component analysis (PCA) provided useful information on the classification of Pb tolerance according to the response to GB. Overall, the 1 mM GB was more effective to ameliorate the detrimental impacts of Pb stress. These findings suggested that GB application might be considered an effective strategy for alleviating Pb toxicity and enhancing the tolerance of pakchoi plants under Pb stress., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Wide application of nanoparticles causes considerable environmental, health, and safety problems. However, their potential impact and mechanisms on plant growth are not completely clear. In the present study, the effects of different concentration of copper oxide nanoparticles (nCuO) on seed germination and seedling growth, as well as physiological parameters of Brassica pekinensis L., were investigated. The seeds were exposed to 10-, 100-, and 1000-mg L -1 nCuO suspensions and 0.8-mg L -1 Cu 2+ released from 1000-mg L -1 nCuO for 7 day. The results showed that nCuO did not affect the germination rate, germination potential, and germination index of B. pekinensis but significantly affected the vitality index. The growth of roots and shoots of B. pekinensis was promoted at 10-mg L -1 nCuO, while they were inhibited under 1000-mg L -1 nCuO and Cu 2+ ion treatments, and roots suffered more damage than shoots. Cu content in shoots and roots of B. pekinensis increased with increasing concentrations of nCuO, which is significantly higher in roots as compared with shoots. Roots and shoots accumulated more Cu under nCuO treatments compared with Cu 2+ ion treatment. nCuO treatments led to significant lignification in roots of B. pekinensis. Furthermore, nCuO increased in the contents of soluble sugar and protein in shoots, while nCuO at 1000 mg L -1 significantly inhibited the content of soluble protein in roots. In addition, concentration-dependent augmentation of lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide generation, and antioxidant enzyme activity were noticed in shoots and roots of B. pekinensis seedlings under nCuO and Cu 2+ ion treatments. Altogether, the results strongly suggested that the phytotoxicity of nCuO in B. pekinensis was caused by both the nanoparticles itself and the released Cu 2+ ions.