Evaluation of stress factor on wheat (Triticum aestivum): the effect of ZnO and Ni-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract Phytotoxicological evaluation of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) is important to determine the possible effects on ecosystems. Although bulk Zn2+ ions can be used by plants as an essential micronutrient, it has many adverse effects on living organisms in nano-size. In this study, the growth, the development, and the stress effects of ZnO and Ni-doped (5%) ZnO NPs on wheat (Triticum aestivum – İkizce 96) were comparatively evaluated. In the growth and development experiments seed germination rate, root-shoot elongation, seedling vigor, plant height, and chlorophyll content in plants were determined, and the plant stress was evaluated depending on superoxide dismutase, catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities. It was observed that the height of the plants was decreased with increasing the NPs treatments. The seed germination and chlorophyll content were affected by neither the pure ZnO nor Ni-doped ZnO NPs. The effects of ZnO were more pronounced on superoxide dismutase while Ni:ZnO on CAT, and APX.