ZnO and SiO2 nanopriming enhancing seedling performance and changing volatile profiles of Melissa officinalis under drought and salinity stress
- 1Department of Crop and Animal Production, Vocational School of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Bingol University
Abstract
Introduction: Melissa officinalis L. is an important medicinal and aromatic plant whose germination, seedling establishment, and secondary metabolism can be adversely affected by drought and salinity. This study investigated whether ZnO and SiO ₂ nanopriming could mitigate these effects and modify the volatile profile of M. officinalis .
Methods: Two independent factorial experiments were conducted under drought and salinity stress. Seeds were hydroprimed as the control or nanoprimed with ZnO or SiO ₂ at 50 or 100 mg L ⁻¹ . Drought treatments were 0, −0.2, −0.4, and −0.6 MPa, while salinity treatments were 0, 4, 8, and 12 dS m ⁻¹ . Germination and early seedling traits were evaluated. Selected 50 mg L ⁻¹ treatments under moderate stress conditions were subsequently subjected to volatile profiling by GC/GC-MS.
Results: Nanopriming significantly improved several germination and early seedling traits, with the strongest responses generally observed at 50 mg L ⁻¹ . ZnO at 50 mg L ⁻¹ increased germination from 42% in the non-primed control to 56% under −0.4 MPa drought and from 36% to 52% under 8 dS m ⁻¹ salinity. Low-dose ZnO and SiO ₂ also improved radicle and plumule growth and seedling vigour, although their effects declined under severe stress. Eleven volatile compounds were detected in all analyzed samples, with geranial and neral as the predominant constituents. Alloaromadendrene showed the largest descriptive change, increasing from 2.4% in the control to 6.3 -6.8% in selected treatments. Because volatile analysis was performed once per selected treatment (n = 1), these compositional differences were interpreted descriptively.
Discussion: Low-dose nanopriming, particularly ZnO at 50 mg L ⁻¹ , improved early-stage tolerance of M. officinalis to independently imposed drought and salinity stress and was associated with changes in its volatile profile. Replicated chemical analyses and greenhouse and field experiments are required to confirm the observed volatile responses and agronomic applicability.
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BibTeX
@article{mokhtarzadeh2026sio2,
title = {{ZnO and SiO2 nanopriming enhancing seedling performance and changing volatile profiles of Melissa officinalis under drought and salinity stress}},
author = {Sam Mokhtarzadeh},
journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1980257},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1980257/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ZnO and SiO2 nanopriming enhancing seedling performance and changing volatile profiles of Melissa officinalis under drought and salinity stress
AU - Sam Mokhtarzadeh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Frontiers in Plant Science
DO - 10.3389/fpls.2026.1980257
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1980257/full
AB - Introduction: Melissa officinalis L. is an important medicinal and aromatic plant whose germination, seedling establishment, and secondary metabolism can be adversely affected by drought and salinity. This study investigated whether ZnO and SiO ₂ nanopriming could mitigate these effects and modify the volatile profile of M. officinalis . Methods: Two independent factorial experiments were conducted under drought and salinity stress. Seeds were hydroprimed as the control or nanoprimed with ZnO or SiO ₂ at 50 or 100 mg L ⁻¹ . Drought treatments were 0, −0.2, −0.4, and −0.6 MPa, while salinity treatments were 0, 4, 8, and 12 dS m ⁻¹ . Germination and early seedling traits were evaluated. Selected 50 mg L ⁻¹ treatments under moderate stress conditions were subsequently subjected to volatile profiling by GC/GC-MS. Results: Nanopriming significantly improved several germination and early seedling traits, with the strongest responses generally observed at 50 mg L ⁻¹ . ZnO at 50 mg L ⁻¹ increased germination from 42% in the non-primed control to 56% under −0.4 MPa drought and from 36% to 52% under 8 dS m ⁻¹ salinity. Low-dose ZnO and SiO ₂ also improved radicle and plumule growth and seedling vigour, although their effects declined under severe stress. Eleven volatile compounds were detected in all analyzed samples, with geranial and neral as the predominant constituents. Alloaromadendrene showed the largest descriptive change, increasing from 2.4% in the control to 6.3 -6.8% in selected treatments. Because volatile analysis was performed once per selected treatment (n = 1), these compositional differences were interpreted descriptively. Discussion: Low-dose nanopriming, particularly ZnO at 50 mg L ⁻¹ , improved early-stage tolerance of M. officinalis to independently imposed drought and salinity stress and was associated with changes in its volatile profile. Replicated chemical analyses and greenhouse and field experiments are required to confirm the observed volatile responses and agronomic applicability.
SN - 1664-462X
ER -