Effect of Ag-doping on cytotoxicity of SnO 2 nanoparticles in tobacco cell cultures

SnO nanoparticles (NPs) are promising materials for electrochemical, catalytic, and biomedical applications due to their high photosensitivity, suitable stability characteristics, wide band gap energy potential, and low cost. Doping SnO NPs with metallic elements such as Ag has been used to improve their efficiency. Despite their commercial importance, the current literature lacks investigations to determine their toxic effects on plant systems. In this study, SnO and Ag/SnO NPs were synthesized using polymer pyrolysis method and characterized by means of XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, and DLS techniques. Subsequently, the toxicity of the synthesized NPs on cell viability, cell proliferation, and a number of oxidative stress markers were measured in tobacco cell cultures. SnO and Ag/SnO NPs were found to be polygonal in shape with the size range of 10-30 nm. Both NPs induced cytotoxicity by reducing the cell viability and cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the generation of H O , phenolics, flavonoids, and increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) were observed. According to the results, Ag-doping played a key role in the induction of toxicity in tobacco cell cultures. The obtained results confirmed that SnO and Ag/SnO NPs induced cytotoxicity in tobacco cells through oxidative stress.