Abstract
Salinity is one of the most threatening abiotic stresses to agricultural production, alarmingly expanding both through natural salinization phenomena and anthropogenic activities in recent times. The exploration of sustainable and eco-friendly strategic approaches for mitigating the negative impact of salinity on food crops is of vital importance for future food security. Therefore, our study aimed to evaluate zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as potent salinity mitigators in maize (Zea mays L.). Three ZnO-NPs foliar treatments (i.e., 0, 50, and 100 mg/L) were applied 40, 55, and 70 days after sowing on maize plants exposed to continuous salinities of 0 mM NaCl (S0), 60 mM NaCl (S1), and 120 mM NaCl (S3) in a semi-automated greenhouse facility. Results showed that the highest salinity (i.e., 120 mM NaCl) significantly affected plant growth attributes, physiological performance, nutrient profiles, antioxidant activity, plant yield, and yield-contributing characteristics of maize plants. Thus, 120 mM NaCl resulted in −53% number of grains per cob (NG), −67% grains weight per cob (GW), −36% 100-grains weight (HGW), and −72% grain yield per plant (GY) compared to controls. However, foliar treatment of maize plants with ZnO-NPs successfully mitigated salinity and significantly improved all studied parameters, except transpiration rate (TR) and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE). Foliar application of 100 mg/L of ZnO-NPs alleviated NG, GW, HGW, and GY by 31%, 51%, 13%, and 53%, respectively. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson’s correlation further strengthened the significance of ZnO-NP application as salinity mitigators.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
120 mM NaCl significantly affected maize growth, physiology, nutrient profiles, antioxidant activity and yield.
- Treatment
- 120 mM NaCle0
- Outcome
- plant growth attributes, physiological performance, nutrient profilese0
- Direction
- affectede0
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the highest salinity (i.e., 120 mM NaCl) significantly affected plant growth attributes, physiological performance, nutrient profiles, antioxidant activity, plant yield, and yield-contributing characteristics of maize plants”
Claim · model-written summary
120 mM NaCl reduced maize number of grains per cob by 53% versus controls.
- Treatment
- 120 mM NaCle0
- Outcome
- number of grains per cobe0
- Direction
- −53%e0
- Value
- −53%e0
- Comparator
- controlse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“120 mM NaCl resulted in −53% number of grains per cob (NG), −67% grains weight per cob (GW), −36% 100-grains weight (HGW), and −72% grain yield per plant (GY) compared to controls”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
120 mM NaCl reduced maize grains weight per cob by 67% versus controls.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“120 mM NaCl resulted in −53% number of grains per cob (NG), −67% grains weight per cob (GW), −36% 100-grains weight (HGW), and −72% grain yield per plant (GY) compared to controls”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
120 mM NaCl reduced maize 100-grains weight by 36% versus controls.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“120 mM NaCl resulted in −53% number of grains per cob (NG), −67% grains weight per cob (GW), −36% 100-grains weight (HGW), and −72% grain yield per plant (GY) compared to controls”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
120 mM NaCl reduced maize grain yield per plant by 72% versus controls.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“120 mM NaCl resulted in −53% number of grains per cob (NG), −67% grains weight per cob (GW), −36% 100-grains weight (HGW), and −72% grain yield per plant (GY) compared to controls”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar ZnO-NPs significantly improved studied maize parameters except transpiration rate and intrinsic water use efficiency under salinity.
- Treatment
- ZnO-NPse0
- Outcome
- all studied parameterse0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Qualifier
- except transpiration rate (TR) and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE)e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“foliar treatment of maize plants with ZnO-NPs successfully mitigated salinity and significantly improved all studied parameters, except transpiration rate (TR) and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE)”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar 100 mg/L ZnO-NPs alleviated maize NG by 31%.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar application of 100 mg/L of ZnO-NPs alleviated NG, GW, HGW, and GY by 31%, 51%, 13%, and 53%, respectively”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar 100 mg/L ZnO-NPs alleviated maize GW by 51%.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar application of 100 mg/L of ZnO-NPs alleviated NG, GW, HGW, and GY by 31%, 51%, 13%, and 53%, respectively”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar 100 mg/L ZnO-NPs alleviated maize HGW by 13%.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar application of 100 mg/L of ZnO-NPs alleviated NG, GW, HGW, and GY by 31%, 51%, 13%, and 53%, respectively”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar 100 mg/L ZnO-NPs alleviated maize GY by 53%.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar application of 100 mg/L of ZnO-NPs alleviated NG, GW, HGW, and GY by 31%, 51%, 13%, and 53%, respectively”
t0“Maize”
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