Integrated analyses of ionomics, phytohormone profiles, transcriptomics, and metabolomics reveal a pivotal role of carbon-nano sol in promoting the growth of tobacco plants.

Background: Carbon nano sol (CNS) can markedly affect the plant growth and development. However, few systematic analyses have been conducted on the underlying regulatory mechanisms in plants, including tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.).

Results: Integrated analyses of phenome, ionome, transcriptome, and metabolome were performed in this study to elucidate the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the CNS-promoting growth of tobacco plants. We found that 0.3% CNS, facilitating the shoot and root growth of tobacco plants, significantly increased shoot potassium concentrations. Antioxidant, metabolite, and phytohormone profiles showed that 0.3% CNS obviously reduced reactive oxygen species production and increased antioxidant enzyme activity and auxin accumulation. Comparative transcriptomics revealed that the GO and KEGG terms involving responses to oxidative stress, DNA binding, and photosynthesis were highly enriched in response to exogenous CNS application. Differential expression profiling showed that NtNPF7.3/NtNRT1.5, potentially involved in potassium/auxin transport, was significantly upregulated under the 0.3% CNS treatment. High-resolution metabolic fingerprints showed that 141 and 163 metabolites, some of which were proposed as growth regulators, were differentially accumulated in the roots and shoots under the 0.3% CNS treatment, respectively.

Conclusions: Taken together, this study revealed the physiological and molecular mechanism underlying CNS-mediated growth promotion in tobacco plants, and these findings provide potential support for improving plant growth through the use of CNS.