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Plant function and evolutionary biology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 51(4)

Non-toxic orange carbon dots stimulate photosynthesis and CO2 assimilation in hydroponically cultivated green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Ivana Milenković https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7957-4485 A * , Milan Borišev B , Yiqun Zhou C , Sladjana Z. Spasić https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1098-371X A D , Dunja Spasić E , Roger M. Leblanc C and Ksenija Radotić https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9770-0788 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

B Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.

C Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.

D Singidunum University, Danijelova 32, Belgrade 11010, Serbia.

E Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

* Correspondence to: ivana.milenkovic@imsi.rs, xenia@imsi.rs

Handling Editor: Suleyman Allakhverdiev

Functional Plant Biology 51, FP23164 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23164
Submitted: 26 July 2023  Accepted: 13 March 2024  Published: 2 April 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Continuous increasing leaf photosynthesis may enhance plant yield. As an evolutionary property, plants use less photosynthetic capacity than is theoretically possible. Plant nanobionics is a bioengineering field that improves plant functions using nanoparticles. We applied orange carbon dots (o-CDs) onto the foliage of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown in hydroponics to improve their photosynthetic performance and CO2 assimilation. Photosynthesis parameters, photosynthetic pigments content, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidative activity (TAA) were measured. Results show that photosynthetic pigments remained unchanged, while photosynthesis was improved. Both o-CDs concentrations decreased TPC and TAA. The light response curve showed higher CO2 assimilation at both o-CDs concentrations, particularly at lower light intensity. Correlation analysis confirmed increased CO2 binding and assimilation at 1 mg L−1. This study demonstrated the potential of using o-CDs as a safe biostimulator through photosynthesis increase and CO2 assimilation without toxic effects on plants. This may stimulate yield increase that paves the way for their agricultural application.

Keywords: antioxidative activity, carbon dots, CO2 assimilation, green beans, hydroponics, light response curve, phenolic content, photosynthesis.

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