Photosynthesis is an important physiological process in plants. It plays a crucial role in plant growth and development. Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology reports the impact of zerovalent cobalt nanoparticles on the expression of genes linked to photosynthesis in soybean leaves at different growth stages.

The results showed that treatment of zerovalent cobalt nanoparticles made in Vietnam and USA (with two doses of 0.17 and 16.67 mg/kg of soybean seed) enhanced the photosynthesis of soybean by increasing the content of chlorophyll a and the ratio of Fv/Fm compared with the control (without treatment of zerovalent cobalt nanoparticles). These values tended to increase and reached the maximum value at 40 days and then decreased at 70 days. The expression level of photosynthesis-related genes of soybean leaves also changed depending on the soybean's growth stage and concentration of zerovalent cobalt nanoparticles being treated. The genes psaA, Lhca, psaB, Cytb6f (belonging to photosystem I) and psbA, psbB, psbC, psbD, psbE (belonging to photosystem II) in the experimental formulas were expressed higher than that in control group at 20 and 70 days. However, at 40 days, the expression levels of these genes were significantly different.

The obtained results supplied the basis for understanding the active mechanism of the above genes to control the photosynthetic activity of plants with and without the presence of zerovalent cobalt nanoparticles as well as under stress conditions.

For more information, read the full article in Vietnamese from Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.