A non-classical route of efficient plant uptake verified with fluorescent nanoparticles and root adhesion forces investigated using AFM

Abstract

Classical plant uptake is limited to hydrophilic or water-dispersible material. Therefore, in order to test the uptake behaviour of hydrophobic particles, here, we tested the fate of hydrophobic particles (oleylamine coated Cu2-xSe NPs (CS@OA)) in comparison to hydrophilic particles (chitosan-coated Cu2-xSe NPs (CS@CH)) by treatment on the plant roots. Surprisingly, hydrophobic CS@OA NPs have been found to be similar to 1.3 times more efficient than hydrophilic CS@CH NPs in tomato plant root penetration. An atomic force microscopy (AFM) adhesion force experiment confirms that hydrophobic NPs experience non-spontaneous yet energetically favorable root trapping and penetration. Further, a relative difference in the hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic NPs movement from roots to shoots has been observed and found related to the change in protein corona as identified by two dimensional-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) analysis. Finally, the toxicity assays at the give concentration showed that Cu2-xSe NPs lead to non-significant toxicity as compared to control. This technology may find an advantage in fertilizer application.

Published in

Scientific Reports
2020, Volume: 10, number: 1, article number: 19233
Publisher: NATURE RESEARCH

SLU Authors

• Kanagarajan, Selvaraju

  • Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Plant Biotechnology


Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75685-3

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/109713