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Title: Nanoparticle Size and Coating Chemistry Control Foliar Uptake Pathways, Translocation, and Leaf-to-Rhizosphere Transport in Wheat

Journal Article · · ACS Nano

Nano enabled foliar-applied agrochemicals can potentially be safer and more efficient than conventional products. However,limited understanding about how nanoparticle properties influence their interactions with plant leaves, uptake, translocation through the mesophyll to the vasculature, and transport to the rest of the plant prevents rational design. This study used a combination of Auquantification and spatial analysis to investigate how size (3, 10, or50 nm) and coating chemistry (PVP versus citrate) of gold nano-particles (AuNPs) influence these processes. Following wheat foliar exposure to AuNPs suspensions (~280 ng per plant), adhesion on the leaf surface was increased for smaller sizes, and PVP-AuNPs compared to citrate-AuNPs. After 2 weeks, there was incomplete uptake of citrate-AuNPs with some AuNPs remaining on the outside of the cuticle layer. However, the fraction of citrate-AuNPs that had entered the leaf was translocated efficiently tothe plant vasculature. In contrast, for similar sizes, virtually all of the PVP-AuNPs crossed the cuticle layer after 2 weeks,but its transport through the mesophyll cells was lower. As a consequence of PVP-AuNP accumulation in the leaf mesophyll, wheat photosynthesis was impaired. Regardless of their coating and sizes, the majority of the transported AuNPs accumulated in younger shoots (10-30%) and in roots (10-25%), and 5-15% of the NPs <50 nm were exuded into the rhizosphere soil. A greater fraction of larger sizes AuNPs (presenting lowerζpotentials) was transported to the roots. The key hypotheses about the NPs physical-chemical and plant physiology parameters that may matter to predict leaf-to-rhizosphere transport are also discussed.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1668643
Report Number(s):
BNL-219867-2020-JAAM
Journal Information:
ACS Nano, Vol. 13, Issue 5; ISSN 1936-0851
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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