PHYTOAVAILABILITY OF NITROGEN IN RESPONSE TO APPLICATION OF TITANIA NANOPARTICLES IN SOIL

Abstract

Although nitrogen (N) accounts for almost 78% of the air, it may only be absorbed by a small population of plants in its natural gaseous form (Leguminous plants and some other plants with root nodules) only through a process called biological nitrogen fixation. In present work, effort has been made to examine the effects of TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) on growth of pea plants (Pisum sativum L). The seeds of pea were sown in soil containing different concentrations of TiO2NPs i.e. 0, 50, 100, 250, 500, 750 mg kg-1. Each treatment was further multiplied by four replicates. Liquid Impregnation Method and SEM-EDX analysis was performed for synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles. Plant’s morphological parameters like root, shoot length, plant biomass, chlorophyll were taken into consideration in response to TiO2NPs application. The results showed Pisum sativum L. growth is affected by Titania nanoparticles. The optimum concentration found was 250 mg kg-1 of nanoparticles. Nodulation number and nodule weight was also affected by TiO2NPs, implying that Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation (SNF) and nitrogen availability is affected. At optimum concentration, shoot length increased up to 61% as compared to control. Total dry biomass was increased up to 46%. In nutrient uptake mechanism, the nanoparticles affinities to adsorb nitrate and ammonium ions were the traits that could be optimized to improve the N efficiency for agricultural purposes and reduce N losses to the environment linked to their soil application