Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Alleviate Salt Stress in Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) by Adjusting Na + /K + Ratio and Antioxidative Ability

• Published in: Life (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2024-05, Vol.14 (5), p.595
• Main Authors: Qian, Jiajie, Shan, Ren, Shi, Yiqi, Li, Huazu, Xue, Longshuo, Song, Yue, Zhao, Tianlun, Zhu, Shuijin, Chen, Jinhong, Jiang, Meng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural development; Agricultural production; Agriculture; antioxidative system; Cash crops; Catalase; Cotton; Crops; Economic development; Environmental aspects; Foliar applications; Gene expression; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydroponics; Leaf area; Na/K ratio; Nanoparticles; Oxidative stress; Peroxidase; Physiological aspects; Potassium in the body; Salinity tolerance; Salinization; Salt stress (Botany); Salt tolerance; Seedlings; Seeds; Sodium in the body; Soil salinity; soil salinization; Spraying; Superoxide dismutase; Yeast; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; ZnO NPs
• ISSN: 2075-1729; 2075-1729
• DOI: 10.3390/life14050595

Soil salinization poses a threat to the sustainability of agricultural production and has become a global issue. Cotton is an important cash crop and plays an important role in economic development. Salt stress has been harming the yield and quality of many crops, including cotton, for many years. In recent years, soil salinization has been increasing. It is crucial to study the mechanism of cotton salt tolerance and explore diversified materials and methods to alleviate the salt stress of cotton for the development of the cotton industry. Nanoparticles (NPs) are an effective means to alleviate salt stress. In this study, zinc oxide NPs (ZnO NPs) were sprayed on cotton leaves with the aim of investigating the intrinsic mechanism of NPs to alleviate salt stress in cotton. The results show that the foliar spraying of ZnO NPs significantly alleviated the negative effects of salt stress on hydroponic cotton seedlings, including the improvement of above-ground and root dry and fresh weight, leaf area, seedling height, and stem diameter. In addition, ZnO NPs can significantly improve the salt-induced oxidative stress by reducing the levels of MDA, H O , and O and increasing the activities of major antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT). Furthermore, RNA-seq showed that the foliar spraying of ZnO NPs could induce the expressions of , , , , and other genes, and reduce the expression of , combined with the pathway, which alleviated the toxic effect of excessive Na and reduced the loss of excessive K so that the Na /K ratio was stabilized. In summary, our results indicate that the foliar application of ZnO NPs can alleviate high salt stress in cotton by adjusting the Na /K ratio and regulating antioxidative ability. This provides a new strategy for alleviating the salt stress of cotton and other crops, which is conducive to the development of agriculture.