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. 2021 Apr 22;11(5):1080.
doi: 10.3390/nano11051080.

Carbon Nanotubes Decrease the Negative Impact of Alternaria solani in Tomato Crop

Yolanda González-García  1 , Gregorio Cadenas-Pliego  2 , Ángel Gabriel Alpuche-Solís  3 , Raúl Iskander Cabrera  4 , Antonio Juárez-Maldonado  5
Affiliations

Carbon Nanotubes Decrease the Negative Impact of Alternaria solani in Tomato Crop

Yolanda González-García et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

The diseases that attack the tomato crop are a limiting factor for its production and are difficult to control or eradicate. Stem and fruit rot and leaf blight caused by Alternaria solani causes severe damage and substantial yield losses. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could be an alternative for the control of pathogens since they have strong antimicrobial activity, in addition to inducing the activation of the antioxidant defense system in plants. In the present study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes were evaluated on the incidence and severity of A. solani. Moreover, to the impact they have on the antioxidant defense system and the photosynthetic capacity of the tomato crop. The results show that the application of CNTs had multiple positive effects on tomato crop. CNTs decreased the incidence and severity of A. solani. Furthermore, CNTs increased the fruit yield of tomato crop and dry shoot biomass. The antioxidant system was improved, since the content of ascorbic acid, flavonoids, and the activity of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme were increased. The net photosynthesis and water use efficiency were also increased by the application of CNTs. CNTs can be an option to control A. solani in tomato crop, and diminish the negative impact of this pathogen.

Keywords: antioxidant compounds; biostimulation; biotic stress; carbon nanomaterials; crop growth; nanotechnology; secondary metabolites.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Carbon nanotubes obtained by transmission electron microscopy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Incidence (A) and severity (B) of A. solani in the tomato crop plants. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of fruits per plant (A), fruit yield (B), fresh shoot biomass (C), and dry shoot biomass (D) of tomato crop. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chlorophylls content in leaves of tomato plants. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Ascorbic acid (A), glutathione (GSH) (B), phenols (C), flavonoids (D), and antioxidant capacity (E) in leaves of tomato plants. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Enzymatic activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (A), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (B), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) (C), and catalase (CAT) (D) in leaves of tomato plants. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Net photosynthesis rate (Pn) (A), internal CO2 concentration (Ci) (B), transpiration (Tr) (C), and water use efficiency (WUE) (D) in leaves of tomato plants. Al: Positive control inoculated with A. solani; CNT: Carbon nanotubes; OX: Commercial control; T0: Control. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments according to the least significant difference of Fisher test (α = 0.05). N = 5 ± standard error.
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