Interactions of molybdenum disulfide nanosheets with wheat plants under changing environments: More than meets the eye?

Bing Gong; Erkai He; Bing Xia; Rongrong Ying; Pengjie Hu; Jiugeng Chen; Willie J G M Peijnenburg; Yang Liu; Xueqing Xu; Hao Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138736

Interactions of molybdenum disulfide nanosheets with wheat plants under changing environments: More than meets the eye?

Chemosphere. 2023 Aug:331:138736. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138736. Epub 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Bing Gong¹, Erkai He², Bing Xia³, Rongrong Ying⁴, Pengjie Hu⁵, Jiugeng Chen⁶, Willie J G M Peijnenburg⁷, Yang Liu⁸, Xueqing Xu², Hao Qiu⁹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
² School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
³ Anhui Academy of Eco-Environmental Science Research, Hefei, 230061, China.
⁴ Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing, 210042, China. Electronic address: yrr@nies.org.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.
⁶ Instrumental Analysis Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
⁷ Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, 2333CC, the Netherlands; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Center for the Safety of Substances and Products, Bilthoven, 3720BA, the Netherlands.
⁸ Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
⁹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China. Electronic address: haoqiu@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37088215
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138736

Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets are being increasingly employed in various applications. It is therefore imperative to assess their potential environmental implications in a changing world, particularly in the context of global warming. Here, we assessed the effects of MoS₂ nanosheets on wheat Triticum aestivum L. under today's typical climatic conditions (22 °C) and future climatic conditions (30 °C), respectively. The results showed that MoS₂ nanosheets (10 and 100 Mo mg/L) did not significantly affect wheat plant growth, root morphological traits, and chlorophyll fluorescence, regardless of dose and temperature. However, the metabolic processes were significantly altered in T. aestivum upon exposure to individual MoS₂ nanosheets and to a combination of MoS₂ nanosheets and future global warming. As a non-specific protective strategy, the wheat plants that were under stress conditions maintained the stability of cell membranes and thus relieved cell injury by accumulating more glycerophospholipids. Warming additionally influenced the nitrogen and carbon pool reallocation in wheat root. MoS₂ nanosheets mainly depleted a range of antioxidant metabolites involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, while warming activated vitamin B6 cofactors related to vitamin B6 metabolism. Metabolites involved in glutathione metabolism were uniquely upregulated while most metabolites associated with nucleotide metabolisms were uniquely downregulated in combination-treated wheat. Overall, wheat plants regulated a wide range of growth-related processes, including carbohydrate, amino acids, lipid, vitamins, and nucleotide metabolism, to maintain optimal metabolite pool sizes and eventually global metabolic homeostasis upon different stress conditions. Our findings provide novel insights into MoS₂ nanosheets-mediated crop responses under global warming.

Keywords: Global warming; Interaction; MoS(2) nanosheet; Molecular mechanisms; Wheat.

MeSH terms

Carbon
Molybdenum* / chemistry
Molybdenum* / pharmacology
Nanoparticles*
Nucleotides
Triticum*

Substances

Carbon
Molybdenum
molybdenum disulfide
Nucleotides