|
Keywords
|
Drought, Flax seed , Growth, Injury indices, Nano-anatase , Oil , Protein
|
|
Abstract
|
Drought stress has detrimental effects on
growth and yield of plants under arid or semi-arid environment.
Because of their potential for modulating the
redox status and changing the growth, performance and
quality of plants, nano-scale materials are among the
research interests of physiologists. This study evaluated the
impacts of different concentrations (0, 10, 100, and
500 mg l-1) of nanosized (10–25 nm) titanium dioxide
(TiO2) on growth, seed yield, photosynthetic pigment
contents, the values of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and
malondialdehyde (MDA), seed oil, and protein contents in
Linum usitatissimum Linea (Linaceae) under sufficient and
scarce water conditions. The results showed that application
of nanoscale TiO2 at low concentration better
improved the morphological and physiological traits of
plant compared to other doses particularly under water
scare conditions, leading to better plant performance.
Enhanced chlorophyll and carotenoids contents were
recorded in leaves of nano-anatase TiO2-treated plants
under both normal and drought stress conditions, when
compared to the control. The levels of H2O2 and MDA in
plants exposed to nano TiO2 at 10 mgl-1 were lower than
that of other treatments, therefore, lipid peroxidation was
less pronounced in such plants. In both well watered and
drought stress conditions, the highest values of seed oil and
protein contents were obtained in plants treated with nano
TiO2 at 100 mg l-1. Therefore, exogenous application of
nano TiO2 particles at appropriate concentrations can
ameliorate drought stress damage to Flax seed plants as
well as increase the drought tolerance with remarkable
improvement in physiological process.
|