Enhancing wheat tolerance to salinity using wolfberry-derived carbon dots

• Salinity commonly hindered wheat germination, and using herb-derived carbon dots was an emerging approach to enhancing plant salt tolerance in agricultural production. • Wolfberry-driven carbon dots (Wo-CDs) were synthesized and applied as a nano-primer to enhance wheat salt tolerance by maintaining reactive oxygen species levels through early oxidative stress conditioning. • After 4 days of salt stress, Wo-CDs enhanced wheat jasmonic acid content to improve wheat salt tolerance and induced cytokinin biosynthesis to promote wheat germination.