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Kumar A, Prajapati D, Devi KA, Pal A, Choudhary U, Dashora A, Choudhary J, Joshi A, Saharan V. Slow-release Zn application through Zn-chitosan nanoparticles in wheat to intensify source activity and sink strength. Plant Physiol Biochem 2021; 168:272-281. [PMID: 34666280 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2021.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Source activity and sink strength are important aspects to measure growth and yield in wheat. Despite zinc's extended functions in the amendment of plant metabolic activities, critical research findings are missing on mapping the elusive interplays of slow-release zinc (Zn) application from nanoparticles (NPs) in crop plants. The present study reports that slow-releasing Zn application through Zn-chitosan NPs bestows myriad effects on source activity and sink strength in wheat plants. Herein, effects of foliar application of Zn-chitosan NPs (0.04-0.16%; w/v) at booting stage of wheat crop were evaluated to quantify the source sink potential compared to ZnSO4. Zn-chitosan NPs endowed elevated source activity by up-regulating cellular redox homeostasis by improving the antioxidant status, cellular stability and higher photosynthesis. Cognately, in the field experiment, NPs (0.08-0.16%, w/v) significantly spurred sink strength by up-regulating starch biosynthesis enzymes viz. sucrose synthase (SUS), invertase (INV), ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), soluble starch synthase (SSS) and accumulated more starch in developing wheat grains. Concomitantly, higher spike lengths without awns, significantly higher number of grains/spike, test weight (24% more than ZnSO4 treatment), yield (21% more than ZnSO4 treatment), biological yield and harvest index quantified the higher sink size to further validate the better sink strength in slow-release Zn application via chitosan NPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashok Kumar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Damyanti Prajapati
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Khaidem Aruna Devi
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Ajay Pal
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, 125 004, India
| | - Urmila Choudhary
- All India Coordinated Research Project on Wheat and Barley, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Abhay Dashora
- All India Coordinated Research Project on Wheat and Barley, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Jagdish Choudhary
- All India Coordinated Research Project on Wheat and Barley, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Arunabh Joshi
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India
| | - Vinod Saharan
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313 001, India.
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