Mitigating zinc oxide nanotoxicity in tomato plants: Role of Trichoderma-modulated rhizosphere microbiomes and soil glomalin content

The toxicity is produced for living organisms when the nanomaterials are developed in the natural ecosystem either naturally or if introduced by humans. Nevertheless, there is a huge gap in the research of this area, and investigations are being conducted to determine the potential detrimental impacts of the nanomaterials and the means of eliminating the potential toxicities. In our research, we investigated the potential of zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnONPs) tolerant Trichoderma pseudoharzianum T113 strains in reducing the toxicity of ZnO NPs in tomato crops. Our research findings of a very thoroughly investigated experiment on mechanism of action revealed that application of T113 in NPs amended soil triggered an appreciable change in the microbial diversity of the soil and improved the population density and diversity of the growth-promoting soil microbes and fungi that produced glomalin, a protein responsible for metal chelating. The amount of glomalin in the soil was significantly improved in soil by T113 strain inoculation. The diversity and abundance of the microbes, having beneficial impacts on plants and the glomalin in soil, drastically reduced the NPs induced toxicity under the application of the T113 strain of T. pseudoharzianum. Plants inoculated with the T113 strain, when grown in NP- NP-contaminated soil, exhibited increased growth, enhanced antioxidant activities, improved photosynthesis, and a decline in damage induced by oxidative stress and the accumulation and translocation of Zn. Moreover, applying the T113 strain also reduced the Zn bioavailability in soil contaminated with NPs. These research findings are an eco-friendly and sustainable solution to the ZnO NP toxicity in the host plants.