Silica nanoparticles conferring resistance to bacterial wilt in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Quanqing Deng; Suihua Huang; Hao Liu; Qing Lu; Puxuan Du; Haifen Li; Shaoxiong Li; Haiyan Liu; Runfeng Wang; Lu Huang; Dayuan Sun; Yahui Wu; Xiaoping Chen; Yanbin Hong

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170112

Silica nanoparticles conferring resistance to bacterial wilt in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Mar 10:915:170112. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170112. Epub 2024 Jan 15.

Authors

Quanqing Deng¹, Suihua Huang², Hao Liu¹, Qing Lu¹, Puxuan Du¹, Haifen Li¹, Shaoxiong Li¹, Haiyan Liu¹, Runfeng Wang¹, Lu Huang¹, Dayuan Sun³, Yahui Wu⁴, Xiaoping Chen⁵, Yanbin Hong⁶

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, South China Peanut Sub-Center of National Center of Oilseed Crops Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510640, China.
² Institute of Quality Standard and Monitoring Technology for Agro-Products of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
³ Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ Institute of Grain and Oil Crops, Meizhou Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Meizhou 514071, China.
⁵ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, South China Peanut Sub-Center of National Center of Oilseed Crops Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510640, China.. Electronic address: chenxiaoping@gdaas.cn.
⁶ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, South China Peanut Sub-Center of National Center of Oilseed Crops Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510640, China.. Electronic address: hongyanbin@gdaas.cn.

PMID: 38232827
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170112

Abstract

Peanut bacterial wilt (PBW) caused by the pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum severely affects the growth and yield potential of peanut crop. In this study, we synthesized silica nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs), a prospective efficient management approach to control PBW, and conducted a hydroponic experiment to investigate the effects of different SiO₂ NPs treatments (i.e., 0, 100, and 500 mg L^-1 as NP0, NP100, and NP500, respectively) on promoting plant growth and resistance to R. solanacearum. Results indicated that the disease indices of NP100 and NP500 decreased by 51.5 % and 55.4 % as compared with NP0 under R. solanacearum inoculation, respectively, while the fresh and dry weights and shoot length of NP100 and NP500 increased by 7.62-42.05 %, 9.45-32.06 %, and 2.37-17.83 %, respectively. Furthermore, SiO₂ NPs induced an improvement in physio-biochemical enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and lipoxygenase) which eliminated the excess production of hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anions, and malondialdehyde to alleviate PBW stress. Notably, the targeted metabolomic analysis indicated that SiO₂ NPs enhanced salicylic acid (SA) contents, which involved the induction of systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Moreover, the transcriptomic analysis revealed that SiO₂ NPs modulated the expression of multiple transcription factors (TFs) involved in the hormone pathway, such as AHLs, and the identification of hormone pathways related to plant defense responses, such as the SA pathway, which activated SA-dependent defense mechanisms. Meanwhile, the up-regulated expression of the SA-metabolism gene, salicylate carboxymethyltransferase (SAMT), initiated SAR to promote PBW resistance. Overall, our findings revealed that SiO₂ NPs, functioning as a plant elicitor, could effectively modulate physiological enzyme activities and enhance SA contents through the regulation of SA-metabolism genes to confer the PBW resistance in peanuts, which highlighted the potential of SiO₂ NPs for sustainable agricultural practices.

Keywords: Bacterial wilt resistance; Peanut; Ralstonia solanacearum; Salicylic acid metabolism; Silica nanoparticles.

MeSH terms

Arachis* / metabolism
Hormones
Plant Diseases / microbiology
Plants / metabolism
Prospective Studies
Salicylic Acid
Silicon Dioxide*

Substances

Silicon Dioxide
Salicylic Acid
Hormones