Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Ameliorate Arabidopsis Thaliana Root Damage Under UV-B Stress by Modulating the Cell Cycle and Auxin Pathways

Overview

Journal Protoplasma

Publisher Springer

Date 2025 Feb 5

PMID 39907780

Authors

Cheng Sun

Chen Zhao

Guohua Wang

Rong Han

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO-NPs) have been widely applied worldwide. In the field of agriculture, they have gained attention for their ability to promote seed germination, root elongation, and biomass accumulation in plants, as well as to increase plant resistance to various abiotic stresses. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Limited research has been conducted on whether CeO-NPs can help plants mitigate damage caused by UV-B stress. In this study, Arabidopsis thaliana was selected as the research subject to investigate the effects of CeO-NPs on the resistance of plant roots to UV-B stress at both the physiological and molecular levels. Our findings demonstrated that 120 mg/mL CeO-NPs significantly alleviated UV-B-induced damage to the root system of Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, CeO-NPs increased the activities of the root tip antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), reducing oxidative stress. The results from GUS staining and GFP fluorescence assays conducted on the transgenic lines CYCB1;1-GUS, DR5-GUS, QC25-GUS, and WOX5-GFP indicated that CeO-NPs could increase the cell division activity, auxin accumulation, and stem cell niche activity of Arabidopsis thaliana root tips under UV-B stress. Furthermore, observations of GFP fluorescence in the transgenic lines PIN1-GFP, PIN2-GFP, and PIN7-GFP revealed that CeO-NPs promoted root growth by inducing the accumulation of auxin transporters. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that under UV-B stress, CeO-NPs upregulated the expression of genes related to antioxidant enzymes, the cell cycle and auxin biosynthesis-related genes in Arabidopsis thaliana root tips while downregulating the expression of genes related to DNA damage repair and stress response. Therefore, CeO-NPs have potential value for promoting plant growth and mitigating UV-B stress.

References

Birbaum K, Brogioli R, Schellenberg M, Martinoia E, Stark W, Gunther D . No evidence for cerium dioxide nanoparticle translocation in maize plants. Environ Sci Technol. 2010; 44(22):8718-23. DOI: 10.1021/es101685f. View

Blilou I, Xu J, Wildwater M, Willemsen V, Paponov I, Friml J . The PIN auxin efflux facilitator network controls growth and patterning in Arabidopsis roots. Nature. 2005; 433(7021):39-44. DOI: 10.1038/nature03184. View

Burssens S, Himanen K, van de Cotte B, Beeckman T, Van Montagu M, Inze D . Expression of cell cycle regulatory genes and morphological alterations in response to salt stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. Planta. 2000; 211(5):632-40. DOI: 10.1007/s004250000334. View

Casati P, Walbot V . Gene expression profiling in response to ultraviolet radiation in maize genotypes with varying flavonoid content. Plant Physiol. 2003; 132(4):1739-54. PMC: 181262. DOI: 10.1104/pp.103.022871. View

Djanaguiraman M, Nair R, Giraldo J, Prasad P . Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Decrease Drought-Induced Oxidative Damage in Sorghum Leading to Higher Photosynthesis and Grain Yield. ACS Omega. 2018; 3(10):14406-14416. PMC: 6217696. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01894. View

Emiliani J, Grotewold E, Falcone Ferreyra M, Casati P . Flavonols protect Arabidopsis plants against UV-B deleterious effects. Mol Plant. 2013; 6(4):1376-9. DOI: 10.1093/mp/sst021. View

Fedina I, Grigorova I, Georgieva K . Response of barley seedlings to UV-B radiation as affected by NaCl. J Plant Physiol. 2003; 160(2):205-8. DOI: 10.1078/0176-1617-00760. View

Galweiler L, Guan C, Muller A, Wisman E, Mendgen K, Yephremov A . Regulation of polar auxin transport by AtPIN1 in Arabidopsis vascular tissue. Science. 1998; 282(5397):2226-30. DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5397.2226. View

Gao L, Liu Y, Wang X, Li Y, Han R . Lower levels of UV-B light trigger the adaptive responses by inducing plant antioxidant metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis in Medicago sativa seedlings. Funct Plant Biol. 2019; 46(10):896-906. DOI: 10.1071/FP19007. View

10.

Grieneisen V, Xu J, Maree A, Hogeweg P, Scheres B . Auxin transport is sufficient to generate a maximum and gradient guiding root growth. Nature. 2007; 449(7165):1008-13. DOI: 10.1038/nature06215. View

11.

Gutierrez C . The Arabidopsis cell division cycle. Arabidopsis Book. 2012; 7:e0120. PMC: 3243301. DOI: 10.1199/tab.0120. View

12.

He S, Liu J, Xie Z, ONeill D, Dotson S . Arabidopsis E2Fa plays a bimodal role in regulating cell division and cell growth. Plant Mol Biol. 2004; 56(2):171-84. DOI: 10.1007/s11103-004-2748-8. View

13.

Ishida T, Adachi S, Yoshimura M, Shimizu K, Umeda M, Sugimoto K . Auxin modulates the transition from the mitotic cycle to the endocycle in Arabidopsis. Development. 2009; 137(1):63-71. DOI: 10.1242/dev.035840. View

14.

Jansen M, Coffey A, Prinsen E . UV-B induced morphogenesis: four players or a quartet?. Plant Signal Behav. 2012; 7(9):1185-7. PMC: 3489657. DOI: 10.4161/psb.21260. View

15.

Jiang L, Wang Y, Bjorn L, Li S . UV-B-induced DNA damage mediates expression changes of cell cycle regulatory genes in Arabidopsis root tips. Planta. 2011; 233(4):831-41. DOI: 10.1007/s00425-010-1340-5. View

16.

Kaur R, Yadu B, Chauhan N, Parihar A, Keshavkant S . Nano zinc oxide mediated resuscitation of aged Cajanus cajan via modulating aquaporin, cell cycle regulatory genes and hormonal responses. Plant Cell Rep. 2024; 43(4):110. DOI: 10.1007/s00299-024-03202-1. View

17.

Kim B, Tennessen D, Last R . UV-B-induced photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J. 1998; 15(5):667-74. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313x.1998.00246.x. View

18.

Lei Z, Mingyu S, Xiao W, Chao L, Chunxiang Q, Liang C . Antioxidant stress is promoted by nano-anatase in spinach chloroplasts under UV-B radiation. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2008; 121(1):69-79. DOI: 10.1007/s12011-007-8028-0. View

19.

Liu Y, Xiao Z, Chen F, Yue L, Zou H, Lyu J . Metallic oxide nanomaterials act as antioxidant nanozymes in higher plants: Trends, meta-analysis, and prospect. Sci Total Environ. 2021; 780:146578. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146578. View

20.

Livak K, Schmittgen T . Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2(-Delta Delta C(T)) Method. Methods. 2002; 25(4):402-8. DOI: 10.1006/meth.2001.1262. View