The tomato crop has great economic and nutritional importance; however, it can be adversely affected by salt stress. The objective of this research is to quantify the agronomic and biochemical responses of tomato plants developed under salt stress with the foliar application of copper nanoparticles. Four treatments were evaluated: foliar application of copper nanoparticles (250 mg L−1) with or without salt stress (50 mM NaCl), salt stress, and an absolute control. Saline stress caused severe damage to the development of tomato plants; however, the damage was mitigated by the foliar application of copper nanoparticles, which increased performance and improved the Na+/K+ ratio. The content of Cu increased in the tissues of tomato plants under salinity with the application of Cu nanoparticles, which increased the phenols (16%) in the leaves and the content of vitamin C (80%), glutathione (GSH) (81%), and phenols (7.8%) in the fruit compared with the control. Similarly, the enzyme activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) increased in leaf tissue by 104%, 140%, 26%, 8%, and 93%, respectively. Foliar spraying of copper nanoparticles on tomatoes under salinity appears to induce stress tolerance to salinity by stimulating the plant’s antioxidant mechanisms.

https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/8/6/151/pdf

Responses of Tomato Plants under Saline Stress to Foliar Application of Copper Nanoparticles

Salinity stress is a severe environmental stress that affects plant growth and productivity of potato, a strategic crop moderately sensitive to saline soils. Limited studies are available on the use of combined nano-micronutrients to ameliorate salinity stress in potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L.). Two open field experiments were conducted in salt-affected sandy soil to investigate plant growth, physiology, and yield of potato in response to soil salinity stress under single or combined application of Zn, B, Si, and Zeolite nanoparticles. It was hypothesized that soil application of nanoparticles enhanced plant growth and yield by alleviating the adverse impact of soil salinity. In general, all the nano-treatments applications significantly increased plant height, shoot dry weight, number of stems per plant, leaf relative water content, leaf photosynthetic rate, leaf stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and tuber yield, as compared to the untreated control. Furthermore, soil application of these treatments increased the concentration of nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Zn, and B) in plant tissues, leaf proline, and leaf gibberellic acid hormone (GA3) in addition to contents of protein, carbohydrates, and antioxidant enzymes (polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) in tubers. Compared to other treatments, the combined application of nanoparticles showed the highest plant growth, physiological parameters, endogenous elements (N, P, K, Ca, Zn, and B) and the lowest concentration of leaf abscisic acid (ABA) and transpiration rate. The present findings suggest that soil addition of the aforementioned nanoparticles can be a promising approach to improving crop productivity in salt-affected soils.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/1/19/pdf

Synergetic Effects of Zinc, Boron, Silicon, and Zeolite Nanoparticles on Confer Tolerance in Potato Plants Subjected to Salinity

Soil salinization represents one of the major limiting factors of future increase in crop production through the expansion or maintaining of cultivation area in the future. High salt levels in soils or irrigation water represent major environmental concerns for agriculture in semiarid and arid zones. Recent advances in research provide great opportunities to develop effective strategies to improve crop salt tolerance and yield in different environments affected by the soil salinity. It was clearly demonstrated that plants employ both the common adaptative responses and the specific reactions to salt stress. The review of research results presented here may be helpful to understand the physiological, metabolic, developmental, and other reactions of crop plants to salinity, resulting in the decrease of biomass production and yield. In addition, the chapter provides an overview of modern studies on how to mitigate salt stress effects on photosynthetic apparatus and productivity of crop plants with the help of phytohormones, glycine betaine, proline, polyamines, paclobutrazol, trace elements, and nanoparticles. To understand well these effects and to discover new ways to improve productivity in salinity stress conditions, it is necessary to utilize efficiently possibilities of promising techniques and approaches focused on improvement of photosynthetic traits and photosynthetic capacity, which determines yield under salt stress conditions.

Strategies to Mitigate the Salt Stress Effects on Photosynthetic Apparatus and Productivity of Crop Plants

Nanoparticles potentially mediate salt stress tolerance in plants.

Impacts of nano- and non-nanofertilizers on potato quality and productivity

A greenhouse study was
conducted to explore the effect of various rates of potassium sulfate (K2SO4)
nanoparticles on alfalfa (Medicago
sativa L.)
growth and physiological response under salt stress. One salt-tolerant genotype
(Mesa-Sirsa) and one salt-sensitive genotype (Bulldog 505) were selected based
on germination under salt and were planted in pots containing 2 kg of sand. The
two genotypes were subjected to 0 and 6 dS·m-1 salt
levels using CaCl2·2H2O: NaCl (2:1) mixed with
Hoagland solution. Three K2SO4 nanoparticle treatments
consisting of, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/10 of the potassium (K) level in full strength
Hoagland solution (235 mg·L-1) were
applied. Adding K2SO4 nanoparticles at the 1/8 level
resulted in the highest shoot dry weight, relative yield, root length and root
dry weight in both genotypes. The different rates of K2SO4 nanoparticles affected significantly Na/K ratio and the concentrations of
Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), and Zinc (Zn) in
plant tissue. The application of K2SO4 nanoparticles at
the 1/8 rate enhanced the plant’s physiological response to salt stress by
reducing electrolyte leakage, increasing catalase and proline content, and
increasing antioxidant enzymes, activity. These results suggest that the
application of K nanoparticles may have better efficiency than conventional K
fertilizers in providing adequate plant nutrition and overcoming the negative
effects of salt stress in alfalfa.

/pdf/response-of-alfalfa-under-salt-stress-to-the-application-of-3y481rmu22.pdf

Esawy Kasem Mahmoud

Papers

Response of Alfalfa under Salt Stress to the Application of Potassium Sulfate Nanoparticles