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Research article2024Peer reviewedOpen access

Comparative effects of micron-sized silicon sources and Si nanoparticles on growth, defense system and cadmium accumulation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivated in Cd contaminated soil

Hamoud, Yousef Alhaj; Zia-ur-Rehman, Muhammad; Kakakhel, Ishaq A. Mian; Usman, Muhammad; Rizwan, Muhammad; Shaghaleh, Hiba; Mohiuddin, Ghulam; Alzahrani, Yahya M.; Alharby, Hesham F.; Alsamadany, Hameed; Abdulmajeed, Awatif M.; Yong, Jean Wan Hong

Abstract

Elevated levels of cadmium (Cd) in soils posesignificant challenges to global agricultural crop production. The potential of silicon (Si) nanoparticles (NPs) and biogenic Si sources of different sizes to mitigate Cd stress in wheat remains largely unexplored. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of various sizes of biogenic Si sources: rice husk biochar (RHB), sugarcane bagasse (SB), and rice straw (RS); categorized by particle size (<150 mu m, 150-250 mu m, and 250-1680 mu m, denoted as S1, S2, and S3, respectively), and Si NPs on wheat growth and Cd accumulation. The application of RHB (<150 mu m) significantly increased plant height (105 %), spike length (94 %), shoot dry weight (93 %), root dry weight (83 %), and grain weight (89 %) compared to the control. The RHBS1 treatment delivered the greatest reduction in the bioavailable fraction of soil Cd (-74 %), as well as Cd levels in roots (-85 %), shoots (-93 %), and grains (-97 %) compared to the polluted control. Additionally, RHB (<150 mu m) showed the highest increase in antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the Cd-spiked treatment. Interestingly, the various biogenic Si sources have the potential to mitigate Cd stress in wheat plants. Further research is required to understand the underlying mechanisms and to investigate the effectiveness of different biogenic Si sources and particle sizes in alleviating Cd stress in crops.

Keywords

Global agricultural; Biogenic; RHB; SiNPs; Antioxidant; Silicon; Cadmium

Published in

Environmental technology & innovation
2024, Volume: 36, article number: 103855

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG2 Zero hunger
    SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
    SDG15 Life on land

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Soil Science
    Nano-technology
    Agricultural Science

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2024.103855

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/132813