Abstract
Nanoparticles are implemented in different biotechnological fields, and there is interest in their use in plant biology. Nanotechnology can help overcome the persistent limitations of using conventional fungicides in the management of plant diseases, contributing to a safer environment. Hence, this study is focused on evaluating the behavior of nanoparticles on two different strains of Fusarium oxysporum, which have a wide-ranging occurrence in tomato production and account for important economic losses. Fusarium oxysporum is an ascomycetous fungus that is well-known as a soilborne plant pathogen, adapted to any soil type, and it lives in different forms on organic materials. Gold–chitosan and carbon nanoparticles were suspended in potato dextrose agar growth media, and their antifungal activity was evaluated at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after incubation by measuring the diameter of fungal colonies. The results showed that the nanoparticles have antifungal properties against F. oxysporum, the fungal colony growth diameter being reduced. Likewise, it was observed that the colony diameter was smaller when the nanoparticle concentration increased. However, in the case of one F. oxysporum strain, the highest nanoparticle concentration applied during the experiment’s execution was not able to completely inhibit fungal growth.
Highlights
In the domain of plant biology, temperature and humidity play important roles during the growth of the plants in the field as to fungal development and production of mycotoxins [1,2]
We report a new mild and facile one-pot synthesis method for obtaining gold nanoparticles by exploiting the characteristics of chitosan, which acts as both reducing agent and stabilizer
4 ) to the protonated amino groups (−NH2 ) at the C-2 position in chitosan due to the electrostatic attractive forces; (ii) the simultaneous reduction of Au3+ ions with the oxidation of the (−CH2 OH) groups at the C-6 position and (−CHO) groups at the C-1 position; (iii) the agglomeration of the reduced Au atoms and formation of gold nanoparticles that are further stabilized by chitosan [20,21,22]
Summary
In the domain of plant biology, temperature and humidity play important roles during the growth of the plants in the field as to fungal development and production of mycotoxins [1,2]. The genus Fusarium includes major pathogens that can affect plant growth and development in the field, and since it develops resistance against conventional fungicides, new antifungal substances to control and inhibit fungal growth need to be produced. An interesting category of materials is those that present antifungal activity, which can act as biostimulants, enabling plants to grow (through various processes) when used in small quantities. A special category of biostimulants is represented by nanoparticles (NPs), which have a high density of surface charges that interact with the surface charges found on cell walls and membranes [3]. NPs have started to be used as new types of agents with antimicrobial activity due to the wide possibilities of changing the combination of their physical and Agronomy 2020, 10, 1143; doi:10.3390/agronomy10081143 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy
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