Fig. 2

Chitosan-GSNO nanoparticles mitigate drought stress via antioxidant defense. CS-GSNONPs, had a significantly positive effect on soybean growth under irrigated as well as drought conditions (A) as reflected by an onverall increase in root biomass (B) and plant height (C) under both conditions. CS-GSNONPs provided protection by promoting cell integrity indicated by the reduced electrolyte leakage after treatment with 50μM GSNO (D) and via activation of antioxidant defense resulting in low proline content (E), MDA content (F), and H₂O₂ content (G) with a concomitant increase CAT activity (H), and APX activity (I). Each data point represents the average of atleast three replications. Error bars represent standard deviation. Means with significant difference were separated by DMRT following the analysis of variance (ANOVA) at P < .05