Mechanisms of Chitosan Nanoparticles in the Regulation of Cold Stress Resistance in Banana Plants

Anbang Wang; Jingyang Li; Arwa Abdulkreem Al-Huqail; Mohammad S Al-Harbi; Esmat F Ali; Jiashui Wang; Zheli Ding; Saudi A Rekaby; Adel M Ghoneim; Mamdouh A Eissa

doi:10.3390/nano11102670

Mechanisms of Chitosan Nanoparticles in the Regulation of Cold Stress Resistance in Banana Plants

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Oct 11;11(10):2670. doi: 10.3390/nano11102670.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Hainan Banana Healthy Seedling Propagation Engineering Research Center, Haikou Experimental Station, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Haikou 571101, China.
² Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 13324-8824, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University (Assiut Branch), Assiut 71524, Egypt.
⁵ Agricultural Research Center, Field Crops Research Institute, Giza 12112, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt.

Abstract

Exposure of banana plants, one of the most important tropical and subtropical plants, to low temperatures causes a severe drop in productivity, as they are sensitive to cold and do not have a strong defense system against chilling. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the growth and resistance to cold stress of banana plants using foliar treatments of chitosan nanoparticles (CH-NPs). CH-NPs produced by nanotechnology have been used to enhance tolerance and plant growth under different abiotic stresses, e.g., salinity and drought; however, there is little information available about their effects on banana plants under cold stress. In this study, banana plants were sprayed with four concentrations of CH-NPs-i.e., 0, 100, 200, and 400 mg L^-1 of deionized water-and a group that had not been cold stressed or undergone CH-NP treatment was used as control. Banana plants (Musa acuminata var. Baxi) were grown in a growth chamber and exposed to cold stress (5 °C for 72 h). Foliar application of CH-NPs caused significant increases (p < 0.05) in most of the growth parameters and in the nutrient content of the banana plants. Spraying banana plants with CH-NPs (400 mg L^-1) increased the fresh and dry weights by 14 and 41%, respectively, compared to the control. A positive correlation was found between the foliar application of CH-NPs, on the one hand, and photosynthesis pigments and antioxidant enzyme activities on the other. Spraying banana plants with CH-NPs decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), i.e., hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydroxyl radicals (^•OH), and superoxide anions (O₂^•-). CH-NPs (400 mg L^-1) decreased MDA, H₂O₂, ^•OH, and O₂^•- by 33, 33, 40, and 48%, respectively, compared to the unsprayed plants. We hypothesize that CH-NPs increase the efficiency of banana plants in the face of cold stress by reducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and, in consequence, the degree of oxidative stress. The accumulation of osmoprotectants (soluble carbohydrates, proline, and amino acids) contributed to enhancing the cold stress tolerance in the banana plants. Foliar application of CH-NPs can be used as a sustainable and economically feasible approach to achieving cold stress tolerance.

Keywords: antioxidant enzyme activities; chilling tolerance; chitosan nanoparticles; membrane damage traits.