Browsing by Author "Rahman, Md Abiar"
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Item Biochar potentially enhances maize tolerance to arsenic toxicity by improving physiological and biochemical responses to excessive arsenate(2023) Rahman, Md Mezanur (TTU); Das, Ashim Kumar; Sultana, Sharmin; Ghosh, Protik Kumar; Islam, Md Robyul; Keya, Sanjida Sultana (TTU); Ahmed, Minhaz; Nihad, Sheikh Arafat Islam; Khan, Md Arifur Rahman; Lovell, Mylea C. (TTU); Rahman, Md Abiar; Ahsan, S. M.; Anik, Touhidur Rahman (TTU); Fnu, Pallavi (TTU); Tran, Lam Son Phan (TTU); Mostofa, Mohammad GolamMetalloid pollution, including arsenic poisoning, is a serious environmental issue, plaguing plant productivity and quality of life worldwide. Biochar, a carbon-rich material, has been known to alleviate the negative effects of environmental pollutants on plants. However, the specific role of biochar in mitigating arsenic stress in maize remains relatively unexplored. Here, we elucidated the functions of biochar in improving maize growth under the elevated level of sodium arsenate (Na2AsO4, AsV). Maize plants were grown in pot-soils amended with two doses of biochar (2.5% (B1) and 5.0% (B2) biochar Kg−1 of soil) for 5 days, followed by exposure to Na2AsO4 ('B1 + AsV'and 'B2 + AsV') for 9 days. Maize plants exposed to AsV only accumulated substantial amount of arsenic in both roots and leaves, triggering severe phytotoxic effects, including stunted growth, leaf-yellowing, chlorosis, reduced photosynthesis, and nutritional imbalance, when compared with control plants. Contrariwise, biochar addition improved the phenotype and growth of AsV-stressed maize plants by reducing root-to-leaf AsV translocation (by 46.56 and 57.46% in ‘B1 + AsV’ and ‘B2 + AsV’ plants), improving gas-exchange attributes, and elevating chlorophylls and mineral levels beyond AsV-stressed plants. Biochar pretreatment also substantially counteracted AsV-induced oxidative stress by lowering reactive oxygen species accumulation, lipoxygenase activity, malondialdehyde level, and electrolyte leakage. Less oxidative stress in ‘B1 + AsV’ and ‘B2 + AsV’ plants likely supported by a strong antioxidant system powered by biochar-mediated increased activities of superoxide dismutase (by 25.12 and 46.55%), catalase (51.78 and 82.82%), and glutathione S-transferase (61.48 and 153.83%), and improved flavonoid levels (41.48 and 75.37%, respectively). Furthermore, increased levels of soluble sugars and free amino acids also correlated with improved leaf relative water content, suggesting a better osmotic acclimatization mechanism in biochar-pretreated AsV-exposed plants. Overall, our findings provided mechanistic insight into how biochar facilitates maize’s active recovery from AsV-stress, implying that biochar application may be a viable technique for mitigating negative effects of arsenic in maize, and perhaps, in other important cereal crops. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]Item Ethanol Positively Modulates Photosynthetic Traits, Antioxidant Defense and Osmoprotectant Levels to Enhance Drought Acclimatization in Soybean(2022) Rahman, Md Mezanur (TTU); Mostofa, Mohammad Golam (TTU); Das, Ashim Kumar; Anik, Touhidur Rahman; Keya, Sanjida Sultana (TTU); Ahsan, S. M.; Khan, Md Arifur Rahman; Ahmed, Minhaz; Rahman, Md Abiar; Hossain, Md Motaher; Tran, Lam Son Phan (TTU)Drought is a major environmental threat to agricultural productivity and food security across the world. Therefore, addressing the detrimental effects of drought on vital crops like soybean has a significant impact on sustainable food production. Priming plants with organic compounds is now being considered as a promising technique for alleviating the negative effects of drought on plants. In the current study, we evaluated the protective functions of ethanol in enhancing soybean drought tolerance by examining the phenotype, growth attributes, and several physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Our results showed that foliar application of ethanol (20 mM) to drought-stressed soybean plants increased biomass, leaf area per trifoliate, gas exchange features, water-use-efficiency, photosynthetic pigment contents, and leaf relative water content, all of which contributed to the improved growth performance of soybean under drought circumstances. Drought stress, on the other hand, caused significant accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde, as well as an increase of electrolyte leakage in the leaves, underpinning the evidence of oxidative stress and membrane damage in soybean plants. By comparison, exogenous ethanol reduced the ROS-induced oxidative burden by boosting the activities of antioxidant enzymes, including peroxidase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and ascorbate peroxidase, and the content of total flavonoids in soybean leaves exposed to drought stress. Additionally, ethanol supplementation increased the contents of total soluble sugars and free amino acids in the leaves of drought-exposed plants, implying that ethanol likely employed these compounds for osmotic adjustment in soybean under water-shortage conditions. Together, our findings shed light on the ethanol-mediated protective mechanisms by which soybean plants coordinated different morphophysiological and biochemical responses in order to increase their drought tolerance.Item Ethanol Treatment Enhances Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Mitigate Saline Toxicity in Soybean(2022) Das, Ashim Kumar; Anik, Touhidur Rahman; Rahman, Md Mezanur (TTU); Keya, Sanjida Sultana (TTU); Islam, Md Robyul; Rahman, Md Abiar; Sultana, Sharmin; Ghosh, Protik Kumar; Khan, Sabia; Ahamed, Tofayel; Ghosh, Totan Kumar; Tran, Lam Son Phan (TTU); Mostofa, Mohammad Golam (TTU)Soil salinity, a major environmental concern, significantly reduces plant growth and production all around the world. Finding solutions to reduce the salinity impacts on plants is critical for global food security. In recent years, the priming of plants with organic chemicals has shown to be a viable approach for the alleviation of salinity effects in plants. The current study examined the effects of exogenous ethanol in triggering salinity acclimatization responses in soybean by investigating growth responses, and numerous physiological and biochemical features. Foliar ethanol application to saline water-treated soybean plants resulted in an enhancement of biomass, leaf area, photosynthetic pigment contents, net photosynthetic rate, shoot relative water content, water use efficiency, and K+ and Mg2+ contents, leading to improved growth performance under salinity. Salt stress significantly enhanced the contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde, and electrolyte leakage in the leaves, suggesting salt-induced oxidative stress and membrane damage in soybean plants. In contrast, ethanol treatment of salt-treated soybean plants boosted ROS-detoxification mechanisms by enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes, including peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione S-transferase. Ethanol application also augmented the levels of proline and total free amino acids in salt-exposed plants, implying a role of ethanol in maintaining osmotic adjustment in response to salt stress. Notably, exogenous ethanol decreased Na+ uptake while increasing K+ and Mg2+ uptake and their partitioning to leaves and roots in salt-stressed plants. Overall, our findings reveal the protective roles of ethanol against salinity in soybean and suggest that the use of this cost-effective and easily accessible ethanol in salinity mitigation could be an effective approach to increase soybean production in salt-affected areas.Item Ethanol-mediated cold stress tolerance in sorghum seedlings through photosynthetic adaptation, antioxidant defense, and osmoprotectant enhancement(2024) Ghosh, Protik Kumar; Sultana, Sharmin; Keya, Sanjida Sultana (TTU); Nihad, Sheikh Arafat Islam; Shams, Shahjadi Nur Us; Hossain, Md Saddam; Tahiat, Tanjim; Rahman, Md Abiar; Rahman, Md Mezanur (TTU); Raza, AliSorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), an often overlooked but vital staple crop, suffers severe obstacles in growth and yield due to temperature fluctuations, especially low temperatures. Therefore, scientists nowadays pay impulsive attention to overcoming the deleterious consequences of cold stress (CS) in sorghum. Our current investigations revealed that the application of ethanol (0.2 %) to the root zone of sorghum plants enhanced biomass production, improved gas-exchange features and the levels of photosynthetic pigments, and enhanced leaf relative water content, which collectively contributed to a significant enhancement in the growth performance of sorghum seedlings when subjected to CS conditions (8 °C). Exposure to CS leads to a substantial buildup of reactive oxygen species (ROS), notably hydrogen peroxide, along with elevated levels of malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage in sorghum leaves, unequivocally indicating the occurrence of oxidative stress in sorghum seedlings. In contrast, the addition of 0.2 % ethanol demonstrated a remarkable ability to alleviate the oxidative burden caused by ROS by substantially enhancing the activities of key antioxidant enzymes, including catalase, peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and ascorbate peroxidase, and the level of total flavonoids, within the leaves of sorghum seedlings subjected to CS. Furthermore, ethanol treatment exhibited additional benefits by increasing the levels of total soluble sugars and total free amino acids in sorghum seedlings, which are likely to play a pivotal role in maintaining osmotic balance in response to CS. In conclusion, our findings highlight the defensive mechanism modulated by ethanol in promoting the adaptation mechanisms of sorghum seedlings for abatement of cold-induced damage.Item Zn Supplementation Mitigates Drought Effects on Cotton by Improving Photosynthetic Performance and Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms(2023) Anik, Touhidur Rahman (TTU); Mostofa, Mohammad Golam; Rahman, Md Mezanur (TTU); Khan, Md Arifur Rahman; Ghosh, Protik Kumar; Sultana, Sharmin; Das, Ashim Kumar; Hossain, Md Saddam; Keya, Sanjida Sultana (TTU); Rahman, Md Abiar; Jahan, Nusrat; Gupta, Aarti (TTU); Tran, Lam Son Phan (TTU)Drought is recognized as a paramount threat to sustainable agricultural productivity. This threat has grown more severe in the age of global climate change. As a result, finding a long-term solution to increase plants’ tolerance to drought stress has been a key research focus. Applications of chemicals such as zinc (Zn) may provide a simpler, less time-consuming, and effective technique for boosting the plant’s resilience to drought. The present study gathers persuasive evidence on the potential roles of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4·7H2O; 1.0 g Kg−1 soil) and zinc oxide (ZnO; 1.0 g Kg−1 soil) in promoting tolerance of cotton plants exposed to drought at the first square stage, by exploring various physiological, morphological, and biochemical features. Soil supplementation of ZnSO4 or ZnO to cotton plants improved their shoot biomass, root dry weight, leaf area, photosynthetic performance, and water-use efficiency under drought stress. Zn application further reduced the drought-induced accumulations of H2O2 and malondialdehyde, and electrolyte leakage in stressed plants. Antioxidant assays revealed that Zn supplements, particularly ZnSO4, reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by increasing the activities of a range of ROS quenchers, such as catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase, and guaiacol peroxidase, to protect the plants against ROS-induced oxidative damage during drought stress. Increased leaf relative water contents along with increased water-soluble protein contents may indicate the role of Zn in improving the plant’s water status under water-deficient conditions. The results of the current study also suggested that, in general, ZnSO4 supplementation more effectively increased cotton drought tolerance than ZnO supplementation, thereby suggesting ZnSO4 as a potential chemical to curtail drought-induced detrimental effects in water-limited soil conditions.