Investigation of the effect of selenium nanoparticles on drought stress tolerance in cherry tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L. var.cerasiforme)

This study was performed to investigate the effect of selenium nanoparticles on some morphological and phytochemical properties of cherry tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L. var.cerasiforme) under drought stress conditions in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments including (0, 2, 4 and 10 mg/l) Selenium and the interaction of selenium on drought (50% of field capacity) was repeated 3 times. For this purpose, first the seeds were planted in pots hydroponically and selenium (sodium selenate as bulk control and nano selenium) was treated weekly as a leaf spray from the 5-6 leaf stage of the plant. After 3 days of the seventh treatment, morphological and phytochemical analyzes were performed. The evaluated traits included shoot and root length, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, chlorophyll content, content of some elements in leaves and antioxidant enzymes. The results showed that the highest fresh and dry weight of shoots, shoot length and chlorophyll a and b content were observed in the treatment of 4 mg/l nano-selnium compared to the control. The highest content of zinc per leaf was observed in the treatment group of 4 mg/l nano-selenium and the content of selenium in the treatment of 10 mg/l nano- selenium was observed in comparison with the control. The highest activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase was observed in the treatment group of 10 mg/l nano-selenium compared to the control. In general, treatment of 4 mg/l nano-selenium increased plant tolerance to drought stress and growth.