ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nanotechnol.
Sec. Environmental Nanotechnology
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnano.2025.1595252
This article is part of the Research TopicNanomaterials for Affordable Biomedical Devices, Environmental and Energy ApplicationsView all 9 articles
Biofortification and growth enhancement of wheat via bacteria-assisted iron and zinc nanoparticles
Provisionally accepted
Pradeep Kumar1
Anuj Rana1*Mansi Sheokand1Suresh Kumar1Kautilya Chaudhary1Urvashi Nandal1
Sandeep Kumar2
Rahul Kumar Dhaka1*- 1Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India
- 2PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
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This study reports the isolation of four bacteria from metal-enriched sites and rhizosphere soil and evaluated their tolerant (up to 9 mM) towards iron (ferric chloride) and zinc (zinc sulfate). Among all the four isolates, AW5, exhibited plant growth promoting (PGP) traits namely siderophores, indole-3-acetic acid, and solubilised zinc and phosphorus. AW5 efficiently synthesised iron and zinc nanoparticles (NPs) of size 135 and 197 nm, respectively. The biologically synthesised iron and zinc NPs (20 ppm) enhanced the bacteria (AW5) growth and production of indole-3-acetic acid, siderophore and phosphate and zinc solubilisation. A combination of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and NPs (seed priming) significantly improved shoot (up to 9%) and root length (up to 35%), wheat dry biomass (up to 96%), 100-grain weight (up to 28%), iron content (14 %), and zinc content (4 %) versus RDF control under a pot experiment. However, foliar spray of NPs combined with PGPR seed priming showed a significant increase in shoot length (7 %), and root length (up to 14%), wheat dry biomass (up to 59 %), 100-grain weight (up to 34 %), iron content (27 %), and zinc content (53 %) versus RDF control under a pot experiment. Moreover, nanoparticle treatment through seed priming or foliar spray enhanced plant growth hormones (auxin, 59 %) and chlorophyll A and B (51 % and 107 %) and, soil microbial enzymes (Dehydrogenase up to 53 % and Fluorescein diacetate up to 164 %), and increased grain fat (65 %), and ash content (42 %). The synthesized NPs improved root morphology, photosynthesis, and soil enzymatic activities that enhanced the availability of micronutrients from soil to plant for its growth and biofortification. The synergistic impact of NPs bolstered plant-bacteria interactions, hence increased nutrient uptake by improving root architecture and facilitating the availability of FeNPs and ZnNPs. This study provides valuable insights into employing bacteria-assisted NPs in biofortification and crop productivity to achieve agricultural sustainability.
Keywords: Iron and Zinc Nanoparticles, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, Bacterial synthesis, wheat biofortification, sustainable agriculture, Nanobiofertilizer
Received: 17 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kumar, Rana, Sheokand, Kumar, Chaudhary, Nandal, Kumar and Dhaka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Anuj Rana, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India
Rahul Kumar Dhaka, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India
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