Zinc oxide nanoparticles priming modulate correlation between antioxidative responses, growth and photosynthetic function in lemon balm plantlets

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Biology,, Payame Noor University, Tehran,, Iran

10.22124/jms.2025.8928

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the tolerance threshold of lemon balm plantlets (Melissa officinalis) under the influence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) toxicity. This experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design in the form of pot cultivation in a perlite bed, and the plants were harvested after 28 days of treatment. The results showed that ZnONPs priming at 50 and 100 mg/l had a promoting effect on the seed germination percentage (SG), while ZnONPs stress at 2000 mg/l had an inhibitory effect. Lemon balm plants primed with 100 and 1000 mg/l ZnONPs exhibited higher synthesis of carotenoid pigments. A further increase in H2O2 content was observed in NP-primed plants, which was attendant with the high level of NO content as well as CAT activity. The results of growth parameters together with measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA) indicated that exposure to 2000 mg/l ZnONPs exerted more toxicity. Under ZnONPs stress at 2000 mg/l, the fluorescence intensity at the IP phase and the Fv/Fm of leaves showed a significant decrease compared to the control group. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that there is a high correlation between SG and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters as well as between SG and oxidant (H2O2 and MDA) attributes. Among the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, Fv/Fm and Fv/Fo exhibit a strong correlation with SG values, which demonstrates that chlorophyll fluorescence techniques have great potential in elucidating the physiological mechanism of ZnONPs stress in lemon balm.

Keywords


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