Impact Assessment of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Maize

The rising interest in using zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in agriculture raises concerns about soil contamination, which could result in phytotoxic effects on germinating seeds and seedlings. The present study was carried out to analyze the responses induced by lower, as well as higher doses of ZnO NPs (0–5120 ppm), in maize, for a period of 7 days incubation study. The results revealed that percent seed germination, shoot, root and seedling length, fresh and dry weight and seed vigour was increased with nano seed priming at lower concentration (80 ppm) as compared to control but decline variably at higher levels (higher than 640-5120 ppm) of zinc in maize. Thus, seed-priming with zinc oxide nanoparticles at low dosages was sufficient to elicit a good response to seedling germination and vigour, while higher doses were associated with a delay in early development metrics and caused toxic effect on the seedling.