Greenhouse Plant Production Journal
Quarterly

Evaluate effect of mycorrhizal, zinc and iron oxide on root growth, antioxidant enzyme activities, and mineral elements in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohammad Mehdi Dehestani 1
Mostafa Heidari 2
Seyed Kazem Sabbagh 3
Mohabbat Nadaf 4
Mehdi Baradaran Firouzabadi 1

1 Agronomy and Plant Breeding Department, Shahrood University of Technology

2 Agronomy and Plant Breeding Department

3 Department of Plant Biotechnology, Yazd University

4 Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Tehran

https://doi.org/10.61882/gppj.2.3.33
Abstract
Zinc (Zn) and Iron (Fe) are essential micronutrients that play crucial role on crop plants. Adequate amount of these elements is required for metabolic synthesis, enzyme activity and improvement of overall yield. Mycorrhizal also enhance the uptake and facilitate absorption of water and essential elements in crop plants. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of foliar application of Zn and iron Fe oxides in both normal (2 g L-1) and nano form (1.5 g L-1) combined with inoculation mycorrhiza (Funneliformis mosseae) on root growth and some physiological characteristics in sorghum. Zn and Fe oxides in both normal and nano forms, increased the root growth. Normal form of Fe and Zn oxides showed the greater effect on this trait. Inoculation with Funneliformis mosseae, increased root and shoot dry weight 9.6% and enhanced root length and volume 12.6%. Moreover, Zn and Fe oxides treatments increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) in leaf tissues. No significant difference was observed between the nano and normal forms regarding these antioxidant enzyme activities. Funneliformis mosseae as well as Fe and Zn oxide, increased the concentration of Fe and Zn in the leaves. The highest Fe and Zn concentrations were obtained under foliar application of Zn and Fe oxides in normal form. The results demonstrated that, under symbiosis with the Funneliformis mosseae, foliar application of Fe and Zn oxides in their normal form has a greater effect on root growth and enzyme activities in sorghum plants compared to the nano form.

Keywords

Biochemical traits
Iron oxide
Micronutrients
Nano fertilizers
Physiological characteristics
Sorghum
  1. Al-Masoudi, F. N. and Al-Semmak, Q. H. 2021. Effect of indole acetic acid and chelated nano-zinc foliar application on some wheat enzyme under saline conditions. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 21(1), 1769-1775.
  2. Bitterlich, M., Franken, P. and Graefe, J. 2018.  Arbuscular mycorrhiza improves substrate hydraulic conductivity in the plant available moisture range under root growth exclusion. Frontiers Plant Science, 9, 301.
  3. Brumbarova. T., Bauer, P. and Ivanov, R. 2014. Molecular mechanisms governing Arabidopsis iron uptake. Trends in Plant Science, 20, 124–133.
  4. Cakmak, I. 2002. Plant nutrition research: priorities to meet human needs for food in sustainable way. Plant and Soil, 247, 3-24.
  5. Derosa, M. C., Monreal, C., Schnitzer, M., Walsh, R. and Sultan, Y. 2010. Nanotechnology in fertilizers. Nature Nanotechnology, 5, 91.
  6. Dhindsa, R.S., Plumb-Dhindsa, P. and Thorpe, T.A. 1981. Leaf senescent: correlated with increased levels of membrane permeability and lipid peroxidation, and decreased levels of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Journal of Experimental Botany, 32 (1), 93–101.
  7. Grillet, L., Lan, P., Li, W., Mokkapati, G. and Schmidt, W. 2018. Iron man is a ubiquitous family of peptides that control iron transport in plants. Nature Plants, 4, 953–963.
  8. Heidari, M., Salmanpour, I., Ghorbani, H. and Asghari, H.R. 2018. Iron chelates and rhizobactrial changed growth, grain yield, and physiological characteristics in maize. Scientia Agriculturae Bohemica, 49 (4), 245-254.
  9. Jayne, B. and Quigley, M. 2014. Influence of arbuscular mycorrhiza on growth and reproductive response of plants under water deficit: A meta-analysis. Mycorrhiza, 24, 109-119.
  10. Latef, A. A. H. A. and Chaoxing, H. 2011. Arbuscular mycorrhizal influence on growth, photosynthetic pigments, osmotic adjustment and oxidative stress in tomato plants subjected to low temperature stress. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 33, 1217–1225.
  11. Liu, D., Zhang, W., Yan, P., Chen, X., Zhang, F. and Zou, C. 2017. Soil application of zinc fertilizer could achieve high yield and high grain zinc concentration in maize. Plant and Soil, 411, 47–55.
  12. Moghadam, A.L., Vattani, H.,  Baghaei, N. and Keshavarz, N. 2012. Effect of different levels of fertilizer nano-iron chelates on growth and yield characteristics of two varieties of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.): Varamin 88 and Viroflay. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 4(22), 4813-4818
  13. Monsef-Afshar, R., Hadi, H. and Pirzad, A. 2013. Effect of Nano-Iron on the yield and yield components of Cowpea under end season water deficit. International Journal of Agriculture, 3(1), 27-34.
  14. Naderi, M., Danesh Shahraki, A. A. and Naderi, R. 2011. Application of nanotechnology in the optimization of formulation of chemical fertilizers. International Journal of Nanoscience,12, 16-23.
  15. Nakano, Y. and Asada, K. 1981. Hydrogen peroxide is scavenged by ascorbate-specific peroxidases in spinach chloroplasts. Plant Cell Physiology, 22, 867-880.
  16. Peyvandi, M., Parandeh, H. and Mirza, M. 2011. Comparing the effect of iron nano-chelate
    common iron chelate on growth parameters and antioxidant enzymes activity of basil (Ocimum
    basilicum L). New Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Journal, 1, 89- 99
  17. Samreen, T., Humaira, H., Shah. H. U., Ullah, S. and Javid, M. 2017. Zinc effect on growth rate, chlorophyll, protein and mineral contents of hydroponically grown mungbeans plant (Vigna radiata). Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 1802-1807.
  18. Sarshad, A., Talei, D., Torabi, M., Rafei, F. and Nejatkhah, P. 2021. Morphological and biochemical responses of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench under drought stress. SN Applied Sciences, 3, 81
  19. Taranishi, Y., Tanaka, A., Osumi, N. and Fukui, S. 1974. Catalase activity of hydrocarbon utilizing Candida yeast. Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, 38, 1213-1216.
  20. Urbanek, H., Kuzniak-Gebarowska, E. and Herka, K. 1991. Elicitation of defense responses in bean leaves by Botrytis cinerea polygalacturonase. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 13, 43-50.
  21. Wang, Y.F., Chen, P., Wang, F. H., Han, W. X., Qiao, M., Dong, W. X., Hu, C. S., Zhu, D., Chu, H. Y. and Zhu, Y. G. 2022. The ecological clusters of soil organisms drive the ecosystem multifunctionality under long-term fertilization. Environment International, 161, 107133.
  22. Yruela, I., Moreno-Yruela, C. and Olsen, C. 2021. Zn2+ dependent histone deacetylases in plants: structure and evolution. Trends in Plant Science, 26 (7), 741-757.
  23. Zhao, R.X., Guo, W., Bi, N., Guo, J., Wang, L., Zhao, J. and Zhang, J. 2015. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect the growth, nutrient uptake and water status of maize (Zea mays L.) grown in two types of coal mine spoils under drought stress. Applied Soil Ecology, 88, 41-49.
Greenhouse Plant Production Journal
Volume 2, Issue 3
Summer 2025
Pages 33-39

  • Receive Date 12 July 2025
  • Revise Date 30 August 2025
  • Accept Date 30 September 2025
  • First Publish Date 30 September 2025
  • Publish Date 01 September 2025

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us