Investigation of the effects of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles on germination parameters of european hophornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.) seeds

In this original study, which investigated the effects of the seeds of the European Hophornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.) species collected from Bartın, Düzce, Sinop, Adana and Erzurum origins on the germination percentage and germination rate variables after being treated with 4 different doses (400 mg/l, 800 mg/l, 1200mg/l and 1600mg/l) of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles, which are widely effective in environmental pollution, were prepared. In the variance analysis applied in terms of germination percentage between the seeds of the control sample and 4 different dose concentrations of CuO nanoparticles, it was determined that a statistically significant difference emerged at the P˂0.05 confidence level and as a result of the Duncan Test performed at the 95% confidence level in order to determine homogeneous groups, it was determined that the first group was the control group with 35.79% germination percentage and the last group was the group without CuO nanoparticle application at the 4th dose value with 18.26% germination percentage. Again, a statistically significant difference was detected between the control group seed samples and the nanoparticle dose application groups in terms of germination rate in CuO nanoparticles at the P˂0.05 confidence level and as a result of the Duncan test applied at the 95% confidence level, it was determined that the first group was formed by the control group seed samples with a germination speed of 28.47 and the last group was formed by the 4th dose CuO nanoparticle dose group seed samples with 15.92. Within the scope of the research, the effects of ZnO nanoparticles, which cause widespread environmental pollution, on the germination parameters of the seeds of the European Hophornbeam species were also examined. In this context, it was determined that a statistically significant difference emerged at the P˂0.05 confidence level in the variance analysis applied between the seeds of 4 different dose concentrations of ZnO nanoparticles and the control sample in terms of germination percentage and in this respect, as a result of the Duncan Test performed at the 95% confidence level in order to determine homogeneous groups, it was determined that the first group was formed by the control group with 33.65% germination percentage and the last group was formed by the CuO nanoparticle application group at the 4th dose value with 20.18% germination percentage. Again, a statistically significant difference was detected at the P˂0.05 confidence level between the seed samples of the control group and the nanoparticle dose application groups in terms of germination rate in ZnO nanoparticles and in this context, as a result of the Duncan test applied at the 95% confidence level, it was determined that the first group was formed by the seed samples of the control group with a germination rate of 30.54 and the last group was formed by the seed samples of the 4th dose of ZnO nanoparticle group with 11.83.