Pedosphere 35(6): 1005--1015, 2025
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2025 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Foliar spraying of SiO2 nanoparticles affects phenanthrene accumulation in amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.): A metabolomics insight |
Yue CAI1,2,3, Lirong PU1, Lianzhou SHEN1,2, Xinghao WANG1, Zhaoyue SUN1, Guodong FANG1, Dongmei ZHOU4, Yunjiang YU3, Juan GAO1,2 |
1 Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 211135 (China);
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Nanjing 211135 (China);
3 State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510655 (China);
4 State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (nSiO2) have attracted considerable attention in agricultural practices. However, their effects on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) accumulation in plants remain largely unknown. Thus, this issue was tracked here with a 30-d pot experiment with foliar spraying of 30 and 100 nm SiO2 particles (100 mg L-1, 10 mL) on Amaranthus tricolor L. (amaranth). Compared with foliar spraying of ultrapure water (i.e., the control), foliar spraying of nSiO2 increased phenanthrene (PHE) contents in amaranth leaves by 242% ± 88.4% and 158% ± 29.6%, respectively, and the increases were significantly higher than that by foliar spraying of 2 μm particles (96.0% ± 29.2%). Metabolomics analysis indicated that compared to nSiO2, 2 μm SiO2 significantly boosted oxidative defense in amaranth leaves, enhanced cell membrane fluidity, and upregulated amino acid metabolism, glycolysis, and gluconeogenesis. In addition, the upregulation of discriminating metabolites was the most significant in the 2 μm SiO2 treatment, followed by the 100 and 30 nm nSiO2 treatments. This is mainly because nSiO2 promoted amaranth growth and decreased average PHE content per unit biomass, namely dilute effect. Thus, slighter metabolic disturbances were observed in the 30 and 100 nm SiO2 treatments compared with the control and 2 μm SiO2 treatment. This study revealed the possibility of PAH accumulation enhancement in vegetables with foliar spraying of nSiO2. The results of this study provide theoretical guidance regarding particle size selection for the safe agricultural application of SiO2 in PAH-contaminated areas. |
| Key Words: discriminating metabolite|foliar uptake|oxidative defense|polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon|size effect |
| Citation: Cai Y, Pu L R, Shen L Z, Wang X H, Sun Z Y, Fang G D, Zhou D M, Yu Y J, Gao J. 2025. Foliar spraying of SiO2 nanoparticles affects phenanthrene accumulation in amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.): A metabolomics insight. Pedosphere. 35(6): 1005-1015. |
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