Abstract
Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) nanocapsules have been previously developed as a carrier system for atrazine. However, the efficacy of this nanoformulation against weeds commonly found in crop cultures has not been tested yet. Here, we evaluated the post-emergence herbicidal activity of PCL nanocapsules containing atrazine against Amaranthus viridis (slender amaranth) and Bidens pilosa (hairy beggarticks), in comparison with a commercial formulation of atrazine. For both species, treatment with atrazine-loaded nanocapsules (at 2000 g ha-1) led to a greater decrease in the photosystem II activity (above 50% inhibition relative to the control) than the commercial atrazine formulation at the same concentration (around 40% inhibition). The growth of A. viridis plants was equally reduced by nanoatrazine and commercial formulation (above 64% for root and 75% for shoot). In the case of B. pilosa, atrazine-loaded nanocapsules decreased more effectively the root and shoot growth than the commercial formulation, leading to a loss of plant biomass. Moreover, for both species, the use of ten-fold diluted atrazine-loaded PCL nanocapsules (200 g ha-1) resulted in the same inhibitory effect in root and shoot growth as the commercial formulation at the standard atrazine dose. These results suggest that the utilization of atrazine-containing PCL nanocapsules potentiated the post-emergence control of A. viridis and B. pilosa by the herbicide. Thus, this nanoformulation emerges as an efficient alternative for weed control.
Highlights
Atrazine (6-chloro-N-ethyl-N’-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) is a triazine herbicide widely applied for the control of broadleaf weeds in maize, sorghum and sugarcane cultures (Rodrigues and Almeida, 2011; Domínguez-Garay et al, 2016; Kong et al, 2016)
The Fv/Fm was negatively affected by ATZ treatment, but to a lower extent than that of plants treated with nanocapsules without atrazine (NC)+ATZ
The results demonstrate that atrazine-loaded PCL nanocapsules were more effective than the commercial atrazine in the inhibition of growth and physiological parameters of B. pilosa and A. viridis plants
Summary
Atrazine (6-chloro-N-ethyl-N’-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) is a triazine herbicide widely applied for the control of broadleaf weeds in maize, sorghum and sugarcane cultures (Rodrigues and Almeida, 2011; Domínguez-Garay et al, 2016; Kong et al, 2016). Due to its slow degradation in natural conditions, the indiscriminate use of atrazine has been associated with contamination of soil and water resources (Khan et al, 2015; Ouyang et al, 2016), which results in deleterious effects on soil microbiota, on plant and animal non-target species and even on human health (Graymore et al, 2001; Dalton and Boutin, 2010; Sathiakumar et al, 2011; Chen et al, 2015) In this context, modified-release systems offer an alternative technique that may Atrazine-Loaded Nanocapsules reduce environmental contamination by herbicides, as well as increase the efficiency of the bioactive compound (Campos et al, 2014; Prasad et al, 2017). PCL is a biodegradable, aliphatic polyester used in the production of controlled-release systems, and it is non-toxic in humans and the environment (Woodruff and Hutmacher, 2010)
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