With the rapid expansion of applications in agriculture, nanotechnology has emerged as an effective alternative for alleviating abiotic stress in plants. In this study, the effects of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) on Na⁺ accumulation and salt stress in tomatoes were investigated. The results showed that a concentration of 200 mg L⁻¹ SiNPs significantly improved tomato growth. Furthermore, photosynthesis and chlorophyll content showed positive responses to SiNPs treatment compared to salt treatment alone. Additionally, the application of 200 mg L⁻¹ SiNPs effectively mitigated salt-induced oxidative stress by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the levels of H₂O₂ (by 41.59% and 34.40%) and MDA (by 45.47% and 49.99%). Simultaneously, SiNPs treatment led to significant increases in the contents of K⁺ and Si in tomato seedlings, while decreasing the absorption of Na⁺. qPCR results demonstrated that SiNPs significantly up-regulated the expression of genes related to antioxidant stress defense and salt tolerance. In summary, SiNPs hold promise as potential modifiers to enhance the response and tolerance to salt stress in tomatoes.

ACTA CHIMICA SINICA CdSeTe NSs/TiO 2 NTs 的制备及其光电催化还原 CO 2 的应用 井华 王祜英 徐金凤 睢晓娜 胡海涛

With the development of material science and increasing awareness of ecological environmental protection, liquid biodegradable mulch films (LBDMs) have garnered significant public interest. In this research, new LBDMs were developed using hydrophobically modified polymer materials, surfactants, and photosensitive catalysts. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed good material compatibility. LBDMs exhibited excellent wettability and degradability, effectively covering soil surfaces and enhancing soil moisture conservation, with a degradation rate of 76.09% after 80 days of burial. The field performance experiment was conducted over two consecutive years, 2021 and 2022, to assess differences in soil temperature and moisture, peanut agronomic traits, pod traits, and yield under four treatments: non-mulching (CK), LBDMs, clear polyethylene mulch films (CPEMs), and black polyethylene mulch films (BPEMs). LBDMs increased soil temperature by 0.56 °C and soil moisture by 19.25%, accelerated the seedling stage by 4-to-6 days, and improved the average emergence rate by 15.91%. Furthermore, LBDMs significantly promoted peanut growth, and it increased yield by 14.34% compared to CK. LBDMs performed comparably to the two types of PE films in maintaining soil conditions and different crop phenotype traits, including plant height, branch number, yield, and quality, and they even outperformed PE films in productivity per plant and 100-kernel weight. These findings suggest that LBDMs are a promising eco-friendly alternative to traditional PE films.

Enhancing biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is a promising strategy to improve crop productivity while reducing dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. However, existing approaches for enhancing BNF are often constrained by environmental variability and host specificity, whereas the effects of silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) on the coordination of photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in soybean remain unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of SiQDs on soybean (Glycine max) growth, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and soil-plant interactions. Application of 100 mg kg^-1 SiQDs significantly improved photosynthetic performance, as indicated by increased RuBisCO activity (15.88%) and soluble sugar accumulation (35.79%), and was accompanied by enhanced nodule development, nitrogenase activity (45.93%), and nodule protein content. SiQDs also upregulated key nitrogen transporter genes (AMT and NRT), suggesting enhanced nitrogen uptake and translocation. In parallel, SiQDs altered rhizosphere microbial community structure and predicted functions related to carbon and nitrogen cycling, consistent with increased soil inorganic nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N and NO₃^--N) and organic carbon. These coordinated physiological and rhizosphere responses contributed to improved yield formation, as reflected by a 14.95% increase in 100-grain weight, together with enhanced grain nutritional quality. Random forest analysis further identified soil inorganic nitrogen as a key predictor of yield improvement. Overall, SiQDs enhanced soybean productivity by promoting the coordination between photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, highlighting their potential as a nano-enabled strategy for improving nitrogen use efficiency in soybean production.