Wheat exposure to cerium oxide nanoparticles over three generations reveals transmissible changes in nutrition, biochemical pools, and response to soil N.

This study investigated the effects of third generation exposure to cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO-NPs) on biomass, elemental and N uptake, and fatty acid contents of wheat (Triticum aestivum). At low or high nitrogen treatment (48 or 112 mg N), seeds exposed for two generations to 0 or 500 mg CeO-NPs per kg soil treatment were cultivated for third year in soil amended with 0 or 500 mg CeO-NPs per kg soil. The results showed that parental and current exposures to CeO-NPs increased the root biomass in daughter plants with greater magnitude of increase at low N than high N. When wheat received CeO-NPs in year 3, root elemental contents increased primarily at low N, suggesting an important role of soil N availability in altering root nutrient acquisition. The δN ratios, previously shown to be altered by CeO-NPs, were only affected by current and not parental exposure, indicating effects on N uptake and/or metabolism are not transferred from one generation to the next. Seed fatty acid composition was also influenced both by prior and current exposure to CeO-NPs. The results suggest that risk assessments of NP exposure may need to include longer-term, transgenerational effects on growth and grain quality of agronomic crops.