Silver nanoparticles protect tillering in drought-stressed wheat by improving leaf water relations and physiological functioning
Muhammad Sarwar A , Muhammad Farrukh Saleem A , Najeeb Ullah
B * , Muhammad Jahanzaib Khan A , Hamza Maqsood A , Hassaan Ahmad A , Asif Tanveer C and Muhammad Shahid D
A Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
B Agricultural Research Station, Office of VP for Research and Graduate Studies, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
C Department of Agronomy, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan.
D Agronomic Research Station, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Functional Plant Biology 50(11) 901-914 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23036
Submitted: 21 February 2023 Accepted: 6 July 2023 Published: 25 July 2023
Abstract
The tillering phase of wheat (Triticum aestivum) crops is extremely susceptible to drought. We explored the potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in protecting wheat genotypes from drought injury during this sensitive stage. After treating with AgNPs (60 ppm), the plants were submitted to different water levels; i.e. 100% field capacity (FC), 75% FC (mild drought), 50% FC (moderate drought) and 25% FC (severe drought) from 15 to 41 days after sowing (tillering phase). Leaf physiological data were collected at stress termination, while yield attributes were recorded at crop maturity. We found that increasing drought intensity significantly impaired leaf physiology and grain yield of both studied genotypes. Compared with control, moderately and severely drought-stressed plants produced 25% and 45% lesser grain yield per spike, respectively (averaged across genotypes and years of study). Likewise, moderate and severe drought reduced photosynthesis by 49% and 76%, respectively, compared with control. In contrast, AgNPs significantly restored leaf physiological functioning and grain yield formation at maturity. For example, under moderate and severe drought, AgNPs-treated plants produced 22% and 17% more grains per plant, respectively, than their respective water-treated plants. Our study suggests that exogenous AgNPs can protect wheat crops from drought during early development stages.
Keywords: cellular biochemistry, drought-tolerance, grain yield, osmo-protectants, senescence, silver nanoparticles, tiller formation, water relations.
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