Luca Pagano, Silvia Carlo, Giovanni Orazio Lepore, Valentina Bonanni, Milan Zizic, Simone Pollastri, Simone Margheri, Jacopo Orsilli, Alessandro Puri, Marco Villani, Chunyang Li, Giuliana Aquilanti, Alessandra Gianoncelli, Francesco d'Acapito, Andrea Zappettini, Chuanxin Ma, Jason C. White, Nelson Marmiroli, Marta Marmiroli
{"title":"Mechanistic understanding of iron oxide nanobiotransformation in Zea mays: a combined synchrotron-based, physiological and molecular approach","authors":"Luca Pagano, Silvia Carlo, Giovanni Orazio Lepore, Valentina Bonanni, Milan Zizic, Simone Pollastri, Simone Margheri, Jacopo Orsilli, Alessandro Puri, Marco Villani, Chunyang Li, Giuliana Aquilanti, Alessandra Gianoncelli, Francesco d'Acapito, Andrea Zappettini, Chuanxin Ma, Jason C. White, Nelson Marmiroli, Marta Marmiroli","doi":"10.1039/d5en00401b","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The study investigates the nanobiotransformation dynamics and molecular level impact of iron oxide nanoparticles (nFe<small><sub>3</sub></small>O<small><sub>4</sub></small>) on <em>Zea mays</em>. Specifically, the impact of soil-applied nFe<small><sub>3</sub></small>O<small><sub>4</sub></small> (500 mg kg<small><sup>−1</sup></small>) or FeCl<small><sub>3</sub></small> (75 mg kg<small><sup>−1</sup></small>) on <em>Z. mays</em> morphological, physiological, and transcriptional responses was investigated in a whole life cycle study. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) showed that the Fe local structure changed upon nanoscale Fe internalization, indicating potential nanoparticle biotransformation within the plant tissues. Neither of the Fe amendments induced significant plant morphological changes, although FeCl<small><sub>3</sub></small> reduced chlorophyll content (SPAD index 37.43 <em>vs.</em> 44.33) and stomatal transpiration (s cm<small><sup>−1</sup></small>, 5.08 <em>vs.</em> 9.67) and increased lipid peroxidation (MDA content, μM, 7.01 <em>vs.</em> 3.26) compared with controls. Conversely, nFe<small><sub>3</sub></small>O<small><sub>4</sub></small>-treated plants exhibited milder physiological response as compared to FeCl<small><sub>3</sub></small>-treated plants (SPAD index: 40.42 <em>vs.</em> 37.43; MDA content: 4.57 <em>vs.</em> 7.01 μM). Gene expression of selected biomarkers showed a 2- to 4-fold increase of glutathione reductase (<em>gsr1</em>) and <em>mate1</em> xylem transporter, and a 2-fold decrease of proline responding (<em>pro1</em>) gene. These findings, together with iron intake quantification, suggest limited internalization and translocation of iron in the pristine nanometric form and that Fe<small><sup>3+</sup></small> internalization was a function of the amount in the medium. Importantly, nFe<small><sub>3</sub></small>O<small><sub>4</sub></small> provided a controlled and more precise method of iron release <em>in planta</em>. The combination of physical, chemical, and biological data to assess the potential of nFe<small><sub>3</sub></small>O<small><sub>4</sub></small> as a nanofertilizer leads to novel insights on the potential impact of nano-enabled agriculture and nanobiofortification.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Science: Nano","FirstCategoryId":"6","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5en00401b","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The study investigates the nanobiotransformation dynamics and molecular level impact of iron oxide nanoparticles (nFe3O4) on Zea mays. Specifically, the impact of soil-applied nFe3O4 (500 mg kg−1) or FeCl3 (75 mg kg−1) on Z. mays morphological, physiological, and transcriptional responses was investigated in a whole life cycle study. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) showed that the Fe local structure changed upon nanoscale Fe internalization, indicating potential nanoparticle biotransformation within the plant tissues. Neither of the Fe amendments induced significant plant morphological changes, although FeCl3 reduced chlorophyll content (SPAD index 37.43 vs. 44.33) and stomatal transpiration (s cm−1, 5.08 vs. 9.67) and increased lipid peroxidation (MDA content, μM, 7.01 vs. 3.26) compared with controls. Conversely, nFe3O4-treated plants exhibited milder physiological response as compared to FeCl3-treated plants (SPAD index: 40.42 vs. 37.43; MDA content: 4.57 vs. 7.01 μM). Gene expression of selected biomarkers showed a 2- to 4-fold increase of glutathione reductase (gsr1) and mate1 xylem transporter, and a 2-fold decrease of proline responding (pro1) gene. These findings, together with iron intake quantification, suggest limited internalization and translocation of iron in the pristine nanometric form and that Fe3+ internalization was a function of the amount in the medium. Importantly, nFe3O4 provided a controlled and more precise method of iron release in planta. The combination of physical, chemical, and biological data to assess the potential of nFe3O4 as a nanofertilizer leads to novel insights on the potential impact of nano-enabled agriculture and nanobiofortification.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Science: Nano serves as a comprehensive and high-impact peer-reviewed source of information on the design and demonstration of engineered nanomaterials for environment-based applications. It also covers the interactions between engineered, natural, and incidental nanomaterials with biological and environmental systems. This scope includes, but is not limited to, the following topic areas:
Novel nanomaterial-based applications for water, air, soil, food, and energy sustainability
Nanomaterial interactions with biological systems and nanotoxicology
Environmental fate, reactivity, and transformations of nanoscale materials
Nanoscale processes in the environment
Sustainable nanotechnology including rational nanomaterial design, life cycle assessment, risk/benefit analysis