Seed nano-priming with Zinc Oxide nanoparticles to alleviate drought in basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a vital staple food crop worldwide, providing sustenance to approximately 40% of the global population, particularly in less developed nations. Drought stress is a significant limiting factor for rice production, affecting nearly half of the world's rice crops and causing substantial economic losses. Nanotechnology has shown the potential to revolutionize agriculture, offering novel methods to enhance seed performance and improve agricultural practices sustainably. To address this challenge, seed nano-priming with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) emerges as a promising and cost-effective approach to enhance germination rate, seedling vigor, and overall plant development while mitigating stress. The following research was undertaken to study the effect of seed nano-priming with Zinc Oxide nanoparticles to alleviate drought in basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.). Three semi drought resistant Basmati rice varieties (Pusa Basmati 1718, Pusa Basmati 1728 and Vallabh Basmati 24) were selected for the study in both field and Petri Plates. A drought stress of 5, 10 and 15 days was induced in the field conditions by withholding water. While in the Petri plates Poly ethylene gycol (PEG) was used to induce stress. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles were used for the seed priming at a concentration of 40 ppm. Morpho, Physio Biochemical analysis of the three varieties revealed that the variety Pusa Basmati 1718 performed the best among the three varieties across all the studies parameters. ZnO NPs showed significant impact on reducing the impact of the drought stress in the field conditions among all 5 days, 10 days and 15 days drought stress. Application of 40ppm ZnO- NPs was enough concertation to reduce to drought stress in all treatments but maximum reduction observed Vallabh basmati 24. Vallabh Basmati 1718 was reported to have the best performance among the varieties under the study for both drought stress and np treatment, therefore it can be considered to have high drought tolerance while variety Vallabh Basmati 24 showed the least response hence may be considered as a drought susceptible variety. Molecular studies using 10 SSR primers showed a significant level of polymorphism among the three varieties. A total of 35 scorable Amplified bands for 18 loci were obtained of which 4 were monomorphic and 14 Polymorphic alleles. Primer RM-289 was reported to have the highest polymorphism with three alleles.