Background: This study aimed to assess the effects of different concentrations of silicon (Si) nutrient sources, including bulk silicon dioxide (bSiO₂) and two types of silica nanoparticles, nSiO₂ (I) and nSiO₂ (II) at different concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 ppm in the germination process of stevia. The priming experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design with three replicates to ensure the reliability of the results. Results: All stevia seedlings subjected to nano-priming significantly improved the germination parameters. The germination percentage increased by 106%, reaching 68% in nano-primed seedlings. Similarly, the germination rate showed a remarkable increase of 128.12% at 7.3 day⁻¹. Additionally, the root, shoot, and seedling dry weight increased by 283%, 168.9%, and 220% and determined 0.092, 0.078, and 0.17 g plant⁻¹, respectively, compared to the control. Furthermore, seed priming with nSiO₂ (I) at a concentration of 10 ppm resulted in an increased catalase (CAT) activity (36.15 Umg⁻¹ protein) and peroxidase (POX) activity (approximately 0.057 U.mg⁻¹ protein). Also, the highest sucrose amount was observed in the root (equal to 160.4 μg g⁻¹ DW) and shoot (equal to 247 μg g⁻¹ DW) of seedlings primed with 10 ppm of nSiO₂ (I). However, it should be noted that nano-priming at the highest concentration led to oxidative damage indicated by an increase in H₂O₂ concentration. Conversely, bSiO₂ demonstrated a lesser effect on improving germination, seedling growth, antioxidant activities, and biochemical attributes compared to nSiO₂ (I), and nSiO₂ (II). Conclusions: This study established that seed priming with nSiO₂ (I) at a concentration of 10 ppm was the most effective in enhancing germination percentage and rate, root/shoot/dry weight, biochemical attributes, and enzyme activities (such as α-amylase, CAT, and POX). The results suggested that seed priming with nSiO₂ (I) at the optimal concentration could improve the seed germination by enhancing the antioxidant system, starch metabolism, and ultimately protecting plants from oxidative damage. Graphical

Slow-release fertilizers (SRFs) play an essential and necessary role in sustainable agriculture. Using slow-release and environment friendly fertilizers can increase the growth of plants and reduce the loss of nutrients. Considering the deficiency of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in calcareous soils, a slow-release fertilizer was prepared based on the polymeric nanocomposite, which contains NPK, Fe, and Zn. Its potential was evaluated on tomato plant growth by conducting an experiment in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications. Two levels of salinity (2 and 5 ds m⁻¹, two types of soil texture) clay loam and sandy loam) and five levels of fertilizers were examined in the experiment. To this, the graphene oxide-chitosan coated-humic acid@Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@HA@GO-Cs), and the graphene oxide-chitosan coated-ammonium zinc phosphate (AZP@GO-Cs) were used as Fe and Zn sources, respectively. Then, the optimal Fe and Zn fertilizers in the presence of urea, phosphorus, and potassium slow- release fertilizers (SRF) were investigated under greenhouse conditions. The results indicated that the best improvement in growth and nutrient uptake in plants was achieved by using the SRF. Notably, in the shoots of tomato plants, the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, Fe, and Zn concentration increased by 44, 66, 46, 75, and 74% compared to the control. The use of nanofertilizer can be an effective, biocompatible, and economical option to provide Fe and Zn demand in plants.

Background: There is a great interest in the efficient intracellular delivery of Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP) and its possible applications for in vivo CRISPR-based gene editing. In this study, a nanoporous mediated gene-editing approach has been successfully performed using a bi-functionalized aminoguanidine-PEGylated periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles (RNP@AGu@PEG₁₅₀₀-PMO) as a potent and biocompatible nanocarrier for RNP delivery. Results: The bi-functionalized MSN-based nanomaterials have been fully characterized using electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), nitrogen adsorption measurements, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results confirm that AGu@PEG₁₅₀₀-PMO can be applied for gene-editing with an efficiency of about 40% as measured by GFP gene knockdown of HT1080-GFP cells with no notable change in the morphology of the cells. Conclusions: Due to the high stability and biocompatibility, simple synthesis, and cost-effectiveness, the developed bi-functionalized PMO-based nano-network introduces a tailored nanocarrier that has remarkable potential as a promising trajectory for biomedical and RNP delivery applications.

Background: Wheat is one of the main food for around 2 billion people worldwide. Among the biological stressors, Eurygaster integriceps Puton is a damaging insect in wheat and barley fields, which harms them both quantitatively (by overwintered adults) and qualitatively (by instar nymphs). The ovipositional and the new generation’s production control are pivotal approaches to control the severe damages of Sunn-pest. Methods: In this study, to enhance the deltamethrin effectiveness while reducing its required dosage and also reducing the adverse health and environmental impacts, a novel MSN-based deltamethrin formulation was prepared and evaluated based on the laying-eggs number and oviposition behavior. To this, deltamethrin was loaded on KIT-6 mesoporous silica nanoparticles and characterized using SEM, TEM, and TGA analysis, and the insect potential of deltametrin@KIT6 was then evaluated. Results: The results showed that there might be differences between the treatments (KIT-6, deltamethrin@KIT-6, deltamethrin commercial formulation, and water as a control) in terms of the insect control via the laying-egg and next-generation prevention. The results showed that KIT-6 and deltamethrin@KIT-6 could reduce the oviposition rate compared to water as the control. Deltamethrin@KIT-6 not only caused the less oviposition done but the eggs were scattered and the batch of eggs did not have a uniform-shape similar to the control mode. The deltamethrin@KIT-6 nanopesticide could increase the pesticide effectiveness by reducing the Sunn-pest’s oviposition and nymphal population and subsequently decreasing the damage caused by them. So that the concentrations of 10, 25, and 125 mg L⁻¹ of deltamethrin@KIT-6 reduced oviposition by 63.24%, 66.11%, and 67.62%, respectively, compared to the control group. On the other hand, descriptive observations showed that another possible tension is created through insect eggs deposition on the boundary layer of leaves. Conclusion: The MSN-based nanoformulation could be effectively considered to control the next-generation population density of Sunn-pest. Graphical