Evaluation of the morpho-physiological traits and the genetic diversity of durum wheat's salt tolerance induced by silver nanoparticles

Durum wheat is one of the most critical cereal crops in widespread cultivation and has high economic value worldwide. This study evaluated the effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on durum wheat's (Triticumturgidum var. durum) ability to tolerate salinity. Seeds were soaked with 0, 10, and 20 mg/l AgNPs for 20 hours. Afterward, seedlings were transplanted into the greenhouse, where their growth continued. Plant weight, fresh weight, dry weight, sodium, potassium, and chloride ion contents were measured. According to the findings, AgNPs dramatically enhanced plant fresh- and dryweight and the ability of plants' salinity tolerance. Likewise, the impact of AgNPs on the higher plants was significant at P = 0.05. Thirty-seven start codon-targeted (SCoT) primers and forty-two sequences related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) primers were employed to assess the genetic influence of AgNPs on wheat cultivars. The SCoT and SRAP analyses showed that 226 out of 393 and 241 out of 477 markers, respectively, were detected as polymorphic markers (57.50 % and 50.52 %) among the tested wheat cultivars. In addition, the polymorphism information content (PIC), marker index (MI), effective multiplex ratio (EMR), and resolving power (RP) parameters were computed to assess the effectiveness of the markers. Overall, this study demonstrates a prospective strategy for salt tolerance and replies to queries regarding the relationship between traditional agricultural methodology and the use of nanoparticles. Additionally, it dramatically helps achieve the objective of sustainable improvement for raising crop productivity through immensely safer and greener accessibility.