Title : Trichoderma mediated iron oxide nanoparticles improved morphological, physiological, ultrastructural and carbon sequestration potential of Quercus glauca under drought stress
Abstract:
Climate change serves as the primary determinant of various abiotic stressors affecting plants, exacerbating drought stress, a prominent environmental constraint that hampers plant growth and development, thereby resulting in diminished agricultural yields and economic losses. Among the various approaches utilized to ameliorate drought stress in plants, the implementation of nanoparticles is viewed as a viable and promising and eco-friendly solution.The use of iron-based nanoparticles is well-explored due to its prevalence in both the earth's crust and living entities, the unconventional domain of mycosynthesis and its ecological implications remain understudied. The current study is the first to investigate various morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters in Quercusglauca under drought stress, wherein plants were subjected to Trichoderma koningiopsis mediated nanoparticles.Fungus-mediated nanoparticles(FMN) were foliar sprayed four times with one-week intervals between each application throughout the experiment. These FMNs manifested enhanced physiochemical, ultrastructural, and carbon sequestration capabilities of Q. glaucaamidst drought conditions. Drought causes several biochemical alterations in plants majorly, constraining their growth and attenuating their productivity. Trichoderma-mediated nanoparticles mitigate this stress by constricting the extra accumulation of ROS, amplifying plant biomass, and relative water content, and eliciting the activation of defense mechanisms by producing antioxidant enzymes. Under severe drought (SD), FMN-treated plants significantly increased in shoot length, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll content, leaf number, and stomatal conductance. Additional substantiation was given by root and stomata ultrastructure. FMN likewise boosted the C sequestration which was proven by the augmented amount of chlorophyll contents. However FMN reduced the surplus accumulations of ROS in the roots and leaves of Q. glauca under SD which was further confirmed by the histochemical staining techniques including DAB and H2DCFDA. Furthermore, these FMN fortified the defense mechanism by remarkably raising the levels of SOD, POD, APX, and CAT. The present study provides evidence of the beneficial use of Trichoderma-mediated Fe2O3 nanoparticles, because of their substantial physiological effects on plants. This discovery opens the door to more research into mycosynthesis as an environmentally friendly and sustainable nanotechnology application technique.
