Sulfur nanoparticles mediated improvement of salt tolerance in wheat relates to decreasing oxidative stress and regulating metabolic activity

Salinity is a critical issue impairing the growth and productivity of most crop species through the mediated ionic and osmotic imbalances. As a way forward, the current study was tailored to elucidate the capacity of sulfur nanoparticles (SNPs) to amend salinity consequences on growth and physio-biochemical attributes of wheat. In a controlled experiment, wheat seeds were primed for 12 h with either 100 μM SNPs or deionized water then sown in plastic pots containing 5 kg clay-sand mixture (2:1 w/w). A week later, pots received NaCl (100 or 200 mM) as a sole treatment or in combination with SNPs and after three weeks the data of morph-bio-physiological traits were recorded. Salinity decreased growth rate, pigmentation, protein, amino acids, cysteine, ascorbate, flavonoids and phenolics content in wheat leaves. Plants pre-treated with 100 μM SNPs showed improved growth rate, pigmentation, nitrogen metabolism as well as non-enzymatic antioxidant contents as compared with salinized treatments. Neither salt nor SNP treatments affected photosynthetic performance rate (Fv/fm), however both treatments induced glutathione content. SNP treatment retrieved the undue excessive activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) besides the increased level of proline caused by salt stress. Likewise, 100 μM SNPs rebalanced the declined nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents and decreased sodium uptake caused by salinity. On the whole, priming with 100 μM SNPs improved photosynthetic pigments, nitrogen metabolism, antioxidant status and ionic relations contributing to the enhancement of growth attributes in wheat under salinity.