Abstract
Chitosan (CHT) is a natural, safe, and cheap product of chitin deacetylation, widely used by several industries because of its interesting features. The availability of industrial quantities of CHT in the late 1980s enabled it to be tested in agriculture. CHT has been proven to stimulate plant growth, to protect the safety of edible products, and to induce abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in various horticultural commodities. The stimulating effect of different enzyme activities to detoxify reactive oxygen species suggests the involvement of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide in CHT signaling. CHT could also interact with chromatin and directly affect gene expression. Recent innovative uses of CHT include synthesis of CHT nanoparticles as a valuable delivery system for fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and micronutrients for crop growth promotion by a balanced and sustained nutrition. In addition, CHT nanoparticles can safely deliver genetic material for plant transformation. This review presents an overview on the status of the use of CHT in plant systems. Attention was given to the research that suggested the use of CHT for sustainable crop productivity.
Highlights
Chitosan is a natural, safe, and cheap biopolymer produced from chitin, the major constituent of arthropods exoskeleton and fungi cell walls and the second renewable carbon source after lignocellulosic biomass [1]
Several papers report the involvement of molecules like reactive oxygen species (ROS), Ca2+, nitric oxide (NO), phytohormones in the CHT-mediated signaling pathway
The water-insoluble botanical insecticide rotenone was encapsulated in nanomicelles composed of an amphiphilic derivative of CHT, increasing its solubility [113], and a material composed by carboxymethyl CHT and ricinoleic acid was synthesized and used to improve water solubility of the biopesticide azadirachtin [114]
Summary
Safe, and cheap biopolymer produced from chitin, the major constituent of arthropods exoskeleton and fungi cell walls and the second renewable carbon source after lignocellulosic biomass [1]. The CHT preparations are heterogeneous as for deacetylation degree, molecular mass, polymerization degree, viscosity, acid dissociation constant (pKa value), and the term “chitosan” does not describe a unique compound, but a group of commercially available copolymers This heterogeneity can greatly affect the physical properties of CHT, governing its biological applications [1]. CHT is susceptible to degradation by specific and nonspecific enzymes, and it shows low toxicity to humans [2] All these characteristics make CHT very useful for several industries, namely cosmetology, food, biotechnology, pharmacology, and medicine [3,4]. CHT treatment makes plants more tolerant to a wide range of soil and foliar pathogens and induces root nodulation [5], proposing CHT as a useful tool for agricultural sustainability These published experimental data have been summarized in recent comprehensive reviews [6,7]. This paper reviews the current and ongoing research in these areas and it is organized into three sections: (1) physiological responses to CHT in plants; (2) application of CHT on crop/food plants; (3) use of CHT nanoparticles in agriculture as a delivery system
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