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Cappetta E, Del Regno C, Conte M, Castro-Hinojosa C, Del Sol-Fernández S, Vergata C, Buti M, Curcio R, Onder A, Mazzei P, Funicello N, De Pasquale S, Terzaghi M, Del Gaudio P, Leone A, Martinelli F, Moros M, Ambrosone A. An Integrated Multilevel Approach Unveils Complex Seed-Nanoparticle Interactions and Their Implications for Seed Priming. ACS NANO 2023; 17:22539-22552. [PMID: 37931310 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c06172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize agriculture with the introduction of engineered nanomaterials. However, their use is hindered by high cost, marginal knowledge of their interactions with plants, and unpredictable effects related to massive use in crop cultivation. Nanopriming is an innovative seed priming technology able to match economic, agronomic, and environmental needs in agriculture. The present study was focused on unveiling, by a multilevel integrated approach, undisclosed aspects of seed priming mediated by iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles in pepper seeds (Capsicum annuum), one of the most economically important crops worldwide. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy were used to quantify the MNP uptake and assess seed surface changes. Magnetic resonance imaging mapped the distribution of MNPs prevalently in the seed coat. The application of MNPs significantly enhanced the root and vegetative growth of pepper plants, whereas seed priming with equivalent Fe concentrations supplied as FeCl3 did not yield these positive effects. Finally, global gene expression by RNA-sequencing identified more than 2,200 differentially expressed genes, most of them involved in plant developmental processes and defense mechanisms. Collectively, these data provide evidence on the link between structural seed changes and an extensive transcriptional reprogramming, which boosts the plant growth and primes the embryo to cope with environmental challenges that might occur during the subsequent developmental and growth stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Cappetta
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Carmine Del Regno
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Marisa Conte
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Christian Castro-Hinojosa
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón, INMA (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza 50009, Spain
| | - Susel Del Sol-Fernández
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón, INMA (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza 50009, Spain
| | - Chiara Vergata
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Matteo Buti
- Department of Agriculture, Food, Environmental and Forestry Sciences (DAGRI), University of Florence, Firenze 50144, Italy
| | - Rossella Curcio
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Anil Onder
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Mazzei
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Nicola Funicello
- Department of Physics 'E.R. Caianiello', University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Salvatore De Pasquale
- Department of Physics 'E.R. Caianiello', University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Mattia Terzaghi
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Environment, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari 70121, Italy
| | | | - Antonietta Leone
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
| | - Federico Martinelli
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Maria Moros
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón, INMA (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza 50009, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Alfredo Ambrosone
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano 84084, Italy
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Falcone G, Mazzei P, Piccolo A, Esposito T, Mencherini T, Aquino RP, Del Gaudio P, Russo P. Advanced printable hydrogels from pre-crosslinked alginate as a new tool in semi solid extrusion 3D printing process. Carbohydr Polym 2022; 276:118746. [PMID: 34823778 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
With the aim to overcome alginate shape fidelity issue during the semisolid extrusion 3D printing and matrix collapsing after drying, we speculated that a pre-crosslinking step of the alginate ink-gel with low amount of Ca+2 could improve the hydrogel performance. To verify this, the influence of pre-crosslinker concentration (10-25 mM) on the ink gel rheological properties were studied and flow behaviour and viscoelastic properties were determined. The developed ink gels were fully characterised by DSC and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Moreover, extrudability and the shape retention of extruded forms after printing and after drying were studied. The rheological and MRI data, combined with the morphological analysis of printed forms allowed us to identify the relationship between printability, shape retention and shear thinning behaviour of gels, showing good extrudability for all the pre-crosslinked gels with a calcium concentration between 0.15 and 0.25, corresponding to both egg-box dimers and multimers interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Falcone
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy; PhD Program in Drug Discovery and Development, University of Salerno (SA), Italy
| | - Pierluigi Mazzei
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - Alessandro Piccolo
- Interdepartmental Research Center on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for the Environment, Agro-food and New Materials (CERMANU), University of Naples Federico II, Portici, NA, Italy; Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, NA, Italy
| | - Tiziana Esposito
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | | | - Rita P Aquino
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | | | - Paola Russo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy.
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Venezia V, Pota G, Silvestri B, Vitiello G, Di Donato P, Landi G, Mollo V, Verrillo M, Cangemi S, Piccolo A, Luciani G. A study on structural evolution of hybrid humic Acids-SiO 2 nanostructures in pure water: Effects on physico-chemical and functional properties. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 287:131985. [PMID: 34454229 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Humic acids (HA) are considered a promising and inexpensive source for novel multifunctional materials for a huge range of applications. However, aggregation and degradation phenomena in aqueous environment prevent from their full exploitation. A valid strategy to address these issues relies on combining HA moieties at the molecular scale with an inorganic nanostructured component, leading to more stable hybrid nanomaterials with tunable functionalities. Indeed, chemical composition of HA can determine their interactions with the inorganic constituent in the hybrid nanoparticles and consequently affect their overall physico-chemical properties, including their stability and functional properties in aqueous environment. As a fundamental contribution to HA materials-based technology, this study aims at unveiling this aspect. To this purpose, SiO2 nanoparticles have been chosen as a model platform and three different HAs extracted from composted biomasses, manure (HA_Man), artichoke residues (HA_Art) and coffee grounds (HA_Cof), were employed to synthetize hybrid HA-SiO2 nanoparticles through in-situ sol-gel synthesis. Prepared samples were submitted to aging in water to assess their stability. Furthermore, antioxidant properties and physico-chemical properties of both as prepared and aged samples in aqueous environment were assessed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), N2 physisorption, Simultaneous Thermogravimetric (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) Analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. The experimental results highlighted that hybrid HA-SiO2 nanostructures acted as dynamic systems which exhibit structural supramolecular reorganization during aging in aqueous environment with marked effects on physico-chemical and functional properties, including improved antioxidant activity. Obtained results enlighten a unique aspect of interactions between HA and inorganic nanoparticles that could be useful to predict their behavior in aqueous environment. Furthermore, the proposed approach traces a technological route for the exploitation of organic biowaste in the design of hybrid nanomaterials, providing a significant contribution to the development of waste to wealth strategies based on humic substances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Venezia
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II", p.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
| | - Giulio Pota
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II", p.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
| | - Brigida Silvestri
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II", p.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
| | - Giuseppe Vitiello
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II", p.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy; CSGI, Center for Colloids and Surface Science, via della Lastruccia 3, 50019, Florence, Italy.
| | - Paola Di Donato
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples "Parthenope", Centro Direzionale Isola C4, 80143, Naples, Italy.
| | - Gianluca Landi
- Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility-CNR, P.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
| | - Valentina Mollo
- Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Health Care, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia@CABHC, Largo Barsanti e Matteucci 53, 80125, Naples, Italy.
| | - Mariavittoria Verrillo
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sulla Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare per l'Ambiente, l'Agroalimentare ed i Nuovi Materiali (CERMANU), University of Naples "Federico II", Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy.
| | - Silvana Cangemi
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sulla Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare per l'Ambiente, l'Agroalimentare ed i Nuovi Materiali (CERMANU), University of Naples "Federico II", Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Piccolo
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sulla Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare per l'Ambiente, l'Agroalimentare ed i Nuovi Materiali (CERMANU), University of Naples "Federico II", Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Luciani
- Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples "Federico II", p.le V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
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