Project description:Biogenic carbon dots (CDs) are emerging plant biostimulants, yet their effects during early crop establishment remain underexplored. Here, we synthesize and characterize Spirulina-derived CDs and test their performance as seed nanopriming agents in rice. The CDs showed nanoscale dimensions and abundant surface functionalities, with Raman/FTIR features consistent with graphitic-amorphous carbon and a highly negative ζ-potential, indicative of stable dispersions. Near-infrared spectroscopy with PCA resolved time-dependent metabolic changes during imbibition and identified 8-12 h as an optimal priming window. At 0.2 mg mL-1 for 12 h, Spirulina nanopriming increased seed germination rate (25%), germination speed index (17%), vigor index I (22%), and root length (37%) relative to hydropriming. Additionally, nanoprimed seedlings accumulated more starch (24%) and total carbohydrates (8%), and exhibited higher total phenolics (20%) than hydroprimed seedlings, without evidence of oxidative imbalance. Proteomic profiling revealed coordinated reprogramming: Spirulina nanopriming selectively boosted pathways for protein synthesis, energy production, and ion/nutrient homeostasis, while pathways for reserve breakdown and constitutive defense declined, indicating a shift from stress-biased to growth-oriented metabolism. Collectively, Spirulina-derived CDs act as effective nanobiostimulants that couple early metabolic activation with nutrient mobilization, offering a practical route to strengthen rice seedling establishment.
Project description:The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of dietary Spirulina and lysozyme supplementation over the muscle proteome of piglets during the post-weaning stage. Thirty piglets were randomly distributed among three diets: control (no microalga), SP (10% Spirulina) and SP+L (10% Spirulina + 0.01% lysozyme). They were fed ad libitum for 4 weeks, after which they were sacrificed and samples of the longissimus lumborum muscle were taken. The muscle proteome was analysed using a Tandem Mass Tag (TMT)-based quantitative approach.