College of plant protection, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 May 22;8(1):7991. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26167-0.
The distribution of surface modified carbon dots (CDs) in the pumpkin seedlings was studied by visualization techniques and their potential phytotoxicity was investigated at both the physiological and biochemical levels. The average size of carbon dots was approximately 4 nm. The fluorescent peaks of bared CDs, CD-PEI and CD-PAA were between 420 nm and 500 nm, indicating CDs could emit blue and green fluorescence. Fluorescent images showed that all three types of CDs could accumulate in the pumpkin roots and translocate to the shoots, although the distribution pattern of each CDs was obviously different. At the biochemical level, the elevated antioxidant enzymes in pumpkin roots suggest that all the CDs could potentially trigger the antioxidant defense systems in pumpkin seedlings. Additionally, such alteration was greater in the roots than in the shoots. Our study represents a new perspective on CD visualization in plant tissues and provide useful information for the potential toxicity of different types of CDs to terrestrial plants, which is of importance to agricultural application.
通过可视化技术研究了表面修饰碳点（CDs）在南瓜幼苗中的分布，并在生理和生化水平上研究了它们的潜在植物毒性。碳点的平均尺寸约为 4nm。裸露的 CDs、CD-PEI 和 CD-PAA 的荧光峰在 420nm 至 500nm 之间，表明 CDs 可以发射蓝色和绿色荧光。荧光图像显示，三种类型的 CDs 都可以在南瓜根中积累并转移到地上部分，尽管每种 CDs 的分布模式明显不同。在生化水平上，南瓜根中抗氧化酶的升高表明所有 CDs 都可能在南瓜幼苗中引发抗氧化防御系统。此外，这种变化在根中比在地上部分更大。我们的研究为植物组织中 CD 的可视化提供了一个新的视角，并为不同类型的 CDs 对陆地植物的潜在毒性提供了有用的信息，这对农业应用具有重要意义。
