Insights into the alleviation of cadmium toxicity in rice by nano-zinc and Serendipita indica: Modulation of stress-responsive gene expression and antioxidant defense system activation

Environ Pollut. 2024 Apr 17:123952. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123952. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe adversities of cadmium (Cd) contamination are quite distinguished among other heavy metals (HMs), and so is the efficacy of zinc (Zn) nutrition in mitigating Cd toxicity. Rice (Oryza sativa) crop, known for its ability to absorb HMs, inadvertently facilitates the bioaccumulation of Cd, posing a significant risk to both the plant itself and to humans consuming its edible parts, and damaging the environment as well. The use of nanoparticles, such as nano-zinc oxide (nZnO), to improve the nutritional quality of crops and their counteractive implications against HMs, have gained substantial attention among scientists and farmers. While previous studies have explored the individual effects of nZnO or Serendipita indica (referred to as S.i) on Cd toxicity, the synergistic action of these two agents has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, the gift of nature, i.e., S. indica, was incorporated alongside nZnO (50 mg L-1) against Cd stress (15 μM L-1) and their alliance manifested as phenotypic level modifications in two rice genotypes (Heizhan43; Hz43 and Yinni801; Yi801). Antioxidant activities were enhanced, specifically peroxidase (61.5 and 122.5% in Yi801 and Hz43 roots, respectively), leading to a significant decrease in oxidative burst; moreover, Cd translocation was reduced (85% for Yi801 and 65.5% for Hz43 compared to Cd alone treatment). Microstructural study show...
Source: Environmental Pollution - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research