Arginine-capped magnetite nanoparticles improve wheat growth and grain yield under salinity stress

Salinity stress affects the growth and biochemical characteristics of cereal crops, ultimately reducing agricultural productivity. This study investigated the effects of foliar application of arginine nano-magnetite conjugate on wheat growth and grain yield under saline conditions. A pot experiment was conducted during the wheat growing season 2023-2024 by using a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. For this purpose, 20 day-old plants were exposed to salt stress at 150 mM NaCl and after 30 days, foliar spray of Fe nanoparticles at control, nano-magnetite (50 mg L-1), and arginine-capped nano-magnetite (50 mg L-1) was performed. The data for various morpho-biochemical traits was collected after 15 days of spray. The results indicated that the application of Fe-nanoparticles improved growth traits of wheat under salt stress. Salinity stress negatively impacted all the indicators including soluble sugars. The yield attributes were also negatively affected by salt stress. In contrast, the exogenous application of arginine nano-magnetite improved soluble proteins, phenolics and leaf photosynthetic pigments, which caused improvements in 100-grain weight. Overall, the detrimental effects of salt stress on wheat plants were mitigated by the foliar spray of Fe-NPs. This study highlights that arginine nano-magnetite application to salt-stressed wheat plants could induce salt tolerance and recover crop yield.