Titanium dioxide nanoparticles alleviate the adverse effect of drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG ۶۰۰۰) on seed germination and seedling growth of Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)

The effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO۲ NPS) treatments on Mung bean (Vigna radiate L.) seed germination under drought stress conditions was studied. The laboratory experiment was performed using a factorial completely randomized design with three levels of drought stress ۰ (control), -۴, -۸ and -۱۲ MPa, and TiO۲ NPS (۰, ۱۰, ۲۰, ۳۰ and ۴۰ mgl-¹) with three replications for each treatment. Fresh weight, dry weight, germination percentage and seedling length were measured under the experimental conditions. Variance analysis results (ANOVA) showed highly significant (p<۰.۰۰۱) differences between treatments. It was observed that PEG concentrations decrease seed germination and seedling growth traits and that adding TiO۲ NPS mitigates PEG effects as a significant increase, especially with the highest TiO₂ NPS concentrations (۲۰ mg l-¹). It is concluded that TiO₂ NPS addition is beneficial to improve Mung bean seed germination and plant under drought stress.

Keywords:

Mung bean , TiO۲ nanoparticle , Drought stress , Germination ,