Wheat seedlings traits as affected by soaking at titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The recent advances in nanotechnology and its use in the field of agriculture are astonishingly increasing; therefore, it is important to understand their role in plant life. Four wheat cultivars soaked in different concentrations of TiO2-NPs (0.0%, 0.025 %, 0.05 %, 0.1 %, 0.2 % and 0.5 %) to select a concentration that stimulate cultivars growth under normal conditions during germination stage. Cultivar dependency appeared markedly in their response to TiO2-NPs. Generally, TiO2-NPs did not modify germination percentage, despite 0.1 % TiO2-NPs vastly enhanced seed potential by increasing vigor index, root dry matter stress tolerance index, shoot dry matter stress tolerance index, dry matter stress tolerance index, plant height stress tolerance index, root length stress tolerance index, fresh matter stress tolerance index and pigment composition. The surrounding concentrations exert little effect on the studied parameters and 0.5 % TiO2-NPs suppressed all indices

Alterations in proteins and amino acids of the Nile cyanobacteria Pseudanabaena limnetica and Anabaena wisconsinense in response to industrial wastewater pollution

The effect of industrial wastewater on the Nile cyanobacteria Pseudanabaena limnetica and Anabaena wisconsinense was investigated. The data showed that P. limnetica was more sensitive to pollution than A. wisconsinense. The treatments with different levels of wastewater exerted pronounced reductions in protein and amino acids content. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the cyanobacteria grown in the industrial wastewater showed induction in the synthesis of certain polypeptides and repression of others. The treatments of P. limnetica with wastewater stimulated the appearance of six protein bands with molecular masses of 28, 30, 31, 32, 58 and 97 kDa. The same treatments caused the disappearance of 20, 38 and 56 kDa. The structural protein pattern of the treated A. wisconsinense showed appearance of 16, 30, 170 and 230 kDa and disappearance of 56 kDa. The treatment of the two investigated cyanobacteria with different levels of wastewater stimulated the biosyntheses of different amino acids and inhibited others