Chitosan and Nano-Chitosan for Management of Harpophora maydis: Approaches for Investigating Antifungal Activity, Pathogenicity, Maize-Resistant Lines, and Molecular Diagnosis of Plant Infection

Eman O Hassan; Tahsin Shoala; Amany M F Attia; Omnia A M Badr; Sabry Y M Mahmoud; Eman S H Farrag; Ibrahim A I El-Fiki

doi:10.3390/jof8050509

Chitosan and Nano-Chitosan for Management of Harpophora maydis: Approaches for Investigating Antifungal Activity, Pathogenicity, Maize-Resistant Lines, and Molecular Diagnosis of Plant Infection

J Fungi (Basel). 2022 May 16;8(5):509. doi: 10.3390/jof8050509.

Authors

Eman O Hassan¹, Tahsin Shoala², Amany M F Attia³, Omnia A M Badr⁴, Sabry Y M Mahmoud⁵, Eman S H Farrag⁶, Ibrahim A I El-Fiki¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Banha 13511, Egypt.
² Environmental Biotechnology Department, College of Biotechnology, Misr University for Science and Technology, Giza 12563, Egypt.
³ Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Banha 13511, Egypt.
⁵ Biology Department, College of Sciences, University of Hafr Al Batin, P.O. Box 1803, Hafar Al Batin 31991, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, P.O. Box 1803, Hafr Al Batin 31991, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The rapid spread of late wilt disease among maize cultivations has resulted in serious economic losses in many countries. Harpophora maydis is the main cause of this destructive vascular disease. Here we evaluate the fungicidal activity of chitosan and nano-chitosan against six aggressive isolates of H. maydis collected from different Egyptian governorates. Pathogenicity tests for these isolates show that the highest disease severity was found for the Giza isolate. The isolates were tested for their response to the fungicide Permis, chitosan, and nano-chitosan treatments in vitro and in vivo. Nano-chitosan treatments fully inhibited the radial growth of H. maydis isolates at concentrations of 5 and 10 mM, compared to the full control growth (9 cm in diameter). On the other hand, in vitro, in vivo, and molecular diagnosis results showed high antifungal activity of chitosan and nano-chitosan compared to the Permis fungicide. Chitosan at the nano and normal scales proved a potent ability to enhance plant resistance in response to H. maydis. Disease severity (DS%) was extremely decreased among the tested cultivars by using nano-chitosan; the highest percentage was obtained on Giza 178 cv, where the DS% was 21.7% compared to 42.3% for the control. Meanwhile, the lowest percentage was obtained on Giza 180 cv with DS% 31.2 and the control with 41.3%. The plants treated with nano-chitosan showed the highest growth parameters for all cultivars. Such natural treatments could reduce the impact on the environment as they are non-pollutant natural compounds, protect the plants by reducing fungal activity, and induce plant resistance.

Keywords: Harpophora maydis; antifungal activity; disease severity; fungicide; nano-chitosan.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at the University of Hafr Al Batin for funding this work through Research Group no. RGP-S-0012-1443.