Engineering Climate-Resilient Rice Using a Nanobiostimulant-Based "Stress Training" Strategy

Area of Science:

• Plant Science
• Nanotechnology
• Agricultural Science

Background:

• Climate change necessitates climate-resilient crops for food security.
• Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating nanoparticles can act as nanobiostimulants.
• Nanobiostimulants can trigger plant stress responses and enhance resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as nanobiostimulants for enhancing plant stress resilience.
• To evaluate different
• stress training
• regimens (seed, leaf, combined) using AgNPs.
• To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms and transgenerational effects of AgNP-induced stress resilience.

Main Methods:

• Three AgNP-based
• stress training
• regimens were applied: seed training (ST), leaf training (LT), and combined seed and leaf training (SLT).
• Trained rice seedlings were challenged with rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) or chilling stress (10 °C).
• Metabolomics and transcriptomics were used to investigate the molecular mechanisms.

Main Results:

• All
• stress training
• regimes, especially SLT, significantly enhanced rice resistance to fungal pathogens and tolerance to cold stress.
• SLT reduced lesion size by 82% compared to controls.
• AgNPs induced metabolic and transcriptional reprogramming, activating ROS-mediated signaling pathways and modulating defense gene expression.

Conclusions:

• AgNP-based
• stress training
• is an effective strategy to enhance crop resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses.
• The induced
• stress memory
• can be epigenetically transferred to offspring, improving seed germination and seedling vigor.
• This nanobiostimulant approach offers a sustainable method for improving crop yield and reducing agrochemical use in a changing climate.