Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles affect yield, nutritional quality, and auxin associated gene expression in weedy and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) grains

Chaoyi Deng; Yi Wang; Gilberto Navarro; Youping Sun; Keni Cota-Ruiz; Jose Angel Hernandez-Viezcas; Genhua Niu; Chunqiang Li; Jason C White; Jorge Gardea-Torresdey

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152260

Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles affect yield, nutritional quality, and auxin associated gene expression in weedy and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) grains

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 1:810:152260. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152260. Epub 2021 Dec 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA; University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.
² The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06504, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.
³ Department of Physics, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.
⁴ Department of Plants, Soil, and Climate, Utah State University, 4820 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
⁵ MSU-DOE - Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
⁶ University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA.
⁷ Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Centre at Dallas, 17360 Coit Road, TX 75252, USA.
⁸ The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06504, USA.
⁹ Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA; University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA. Electronic address: jgardea@utep.edu.

PMID: 34896498
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152260

Abstract

Weedy rice grows competitively with cultivated rice and significantly diminishes rice grain production worldwide. The different effects of Cu-based nanomaterials on the production of weedy and cultivated rice, especially the grain qualities are not known. Grains were collected from weedy and cultivated rice grown for four months in field soil amended with nanoscale CuO (nCuO), bulk CuO (bCuO), and copper sulfate (CuSO₄) at 0, 75, 150, 300, and 600 mg Cu/kg soil. Cu translocation, essential element accumulation, yield, sugar, starch, protein content, and the expression of auxin associated genes in grains were determined. The grains of weedy and cultivated rice were differentially impacted by CuO-based compounds. At ≥300 mg/kg, nCuO and bCuO treated rice had no grain production. Treatment at 75 mg/kg significantly decreased grain yield as compared to control with the order: bCuO (by 88.7%) > CuSO₄ (by 47.2%) ~ nCuO (by 38.3% only in cultivated rice); at the same dose, the Cu grain content was: nCuO ~ CuSO₄ > bCuO > control. In weedy grains, K, Mg, Zn, and Ca contents were decreased by 75 and 150 mg/kg nCuO by up to 47.4%, 34.3%, 37.6%, and 60.0%, but no such decreases were noted in cultivated rice, and Fe content was increased by up to 88.6%, and 53.2%. In rice spikes, nCuO increased Mg, Ca, Fe, and Zn levels by up to 118.1%, 202.6%, 133.8%, and 103.9%, respectively. Nanoscale CuO at 75 and 150 mg/kg upregulated the transcription of an auxin associated gene by 5.22- and 1.38-fold, respectively, in grains of weedy and cultivated rice. The biodistribution of Cu-based compounds in harvested grain was determined by two-photon microscopy. These findings demonstrate a cultivar-specific and concentration-dependent response of rice to nCuO. A potential use of nCuO at 75 and 150 mg/kg in cultivar-dependent delivery system was suggested based on enhanced grain nutritional quality, although the yield was compromised. This knowledge, at the physiological and molecular level, provides valuable information for the future use of Cu-based nanomaterials in sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: Auxin gene; Nano-agrochemical delivery; Rice grain; Two-photon microscopy; Uptake/biodistribution.

MeSH terms

Copper / toxicity
Gene Expression
Indoleacetic Acids
Nanoparticles* / toxicity
Nutritive Value
Oryza* / genetics
Tissue Distribution

Substances

Indoleacetic Acids
Copper
cupric oxide