Soleymani Sohrab, Piri Saeed, Aazami Mohammad Ali, Salehi Behhrooz
Department of Horticulture, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran.
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 7;15(1):11805. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96250-w.
Drought stress is one of the most important environmental constraints that negatively affect the growth and production of crops worldwide. Recently, nanotechnology has been increasingly used to improve the tolerance of plants exposed to abiotic stresses such as drought. The present study was designed to investigate the moderating effect of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO NPs) on alleviating drought stress for the apple cv. 'Red Delicious' on M9 rootstock. Drought stress caused a significant increase in CAT, GPX, APX, and SOD enzyme activities compared to control plants. Drought decreased the content of macro and microelements, and the application of CeO NPs led to significant changes in the content of these elements in plants under drought stress. CeO NPs significantly reduced chlorophyll damage under high drought levels. In addition, they alleviated the damage caused by drought, which was shown by lower levels of MDA and EL. When these nanoparticles were used during drought stress, they greatly increased the production of abscisic acid and indole-3-acetic acid hormone. In response to drought stress, the expression of DREB1A and DREB1E genes increased. The use of CeO NPs in stressful and non-stressful conditions had a positive effect on improving the studied traits of the apple plants and enhancing nutrient levels. Taken together, the findings suggest that CeO NPs can be used as promising drought stress-reducing agents in apples. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of abiotic stress in global horticulture and the role of nanoparticles is essential for developing improved, drought-tolerant crops and the adoption of measures to deal with changing climatic conditions.
干旱胁迫是对全球作物生长和产量产生负面影响的最重要环境限制因素之一。近年来，纳米技术越来越多地用于提高植物对干旱等非生物胁迫的耐受性。本研究旨在探讨氧化铈纳米颗粒（CeO NPs）对减轻M9砧木苹果品种“红元帅”干旱胁迫的调节作用。与对照植株相比，干旱胁迫导致CAT、GPX、APX和SOD酶活性显著增加。干旱降低了大量和微量元素的含量，而CeO NPs的施用导致干旱胁迫下植物中这些元素的含量发生显著变化。CeO NPs在高干旱水平下显著减少了叶绿素损伤。此外，它们减轻了干旱造成的损害，这表现为MDA和EL水平较低。当在干旱胁迫期间使用这些纳米颗粒时，它们极大地增加了脱落酸和吲哚-3-乙酸激素的产生。响应干旱胁迫，DREB1A和DREB1E基因的表达增加。在胁迫和非胁迫条件下使用CeO NPs对改善苹果植株的研究性状和提高养分水平有积极作用。综上所述，研究结果表明CeO NPs可作为苹果中很有前景的干旱胁迫减轻剂。因此，了解全球园艺中非生物胁迫的机制以及纳米颗粒的作用对于培育改良的耐旱作物和采取应对气候变化的措施至关重要。
