Responses to ZnO nanoparticles during water stress in Oryza sativa L

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) are being used in different fields of research. The use of NP in agriculture is a recent practice to understand the impact of ZnO NP on growth and functions in plants. This study is an attempt to evaluate the effect of ZnO NP on growth and physiological changes of Oryza sativa in ameliorating PEG induced water stress in rice. ZnO nanoparticles are prepared by chemical method and characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction. Water stress induced growth reduction in rice seedlings by modulating ROS and antioxidant responses, but the effect of ZnO nanoparticles, which may be involved in alleviating the adverse effect of water stress on rice seedlings include the regulation of growth, ROS and antioxidant responses. It can be suggested that the water stress may be counteracted by ZnO nanoparticles at lower concentrations. Further detail understanding of the regulation of zinc transporter in response to ZnO nanoparticles is required. The present study give an insight on the possible role of ZnO NP during water stress acclimatization process in rice. Further studies are required to understand the role of Zn transporter in regulating zinc homeostasis under ZnO NP treatment which in turn will open new ideas on plant-nanoparticles interaction in future.