Current global food sustenance by intensive agriculture is mainly based on crop monocultures that drastically reduces the biodiversity, increasing the yield losses due to the presence of biotic and abiotic stresses. In the frame of a sustainable agriculture the use of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) was applied to sterile distilled water, inducing the production of a hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate, and a pH reduction. In particular, an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been initially used to produce plasma activated water (PAW), that was firstly assayed in in vitro experiments and then in planta through application at the root apparatus of tomato plants, against Xanthomonas vesicatoria, the etiological agent of tomato leaf spot. PAW did not show direct antimicrobial activity however it was effective in reducing the disease severity by giving relative protections of ca. 61, 51 and 38% when applied 1 h, 24 h and 6 days before the experimental inoculation, respectively. In addition the pal gene transcription levels significantly increased from 1 to 48 h until 192 h after the PAW application. In PAW- treated micropropagated periwinkle shoots, periwinkle and grapevine plants, qRT-PCR and small RNAs high-throughput sequencing were used to analyse the differential expression of genes involved in the major plant defence pathways confirming the increased expression of some defence/fitness-related genes. Different systems to produce PAW were evaluated to control grapevine yellows diseases in open field and greenhouse for qualitative and quantitative yield parameters, pathogen presence, and gene expression. The results show the capability of PAW to enhance plant defense mechanisms and, as demonstrated in the field trials, confirmed its ability to improve the health status of the treated plants enhancing the plant defence responses and providing inputs for its applications in plant disease management programs.
Bertaccini A., N.C. (2023). The use of plasma activated water (PAW) to improve health and fitness of agricultural crops.
The use of plasma activated water (PAW) to improve health and fitness of agricultural crops
Bertaccini A.;N. Contaldo
2023
Abstract
Current global food sustenance by intensive agriculture is mainly based on crop monocultures that drastically reduces the biodiversity, increasing the yield losses due to the presence of biotic and abiotic stresses. In the frame of a sustainable agriculture the use of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) was applied to sterile distilled water, inducing the production of a hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate, and a pH reduction. In particular, an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been initially used to produce plasma activated water (PAW), that was firstly assayed in in vitro experiments and then in planta through application at the root apparatus of tomato plants, against Xanthomonas vesicatoria, the etiological agent of tomato leaf spot. PAW did not show direct antimicrobial activity however it was effective in reducing the disease severity by giving relative protections of ca. 61, 51 and 38% when applied 1 h, 24 h and 6 days before the experimental inoculation, respectively. In addition the pal gene transcription levels significantly increased from 1 to 48 h until 192 h after the PAW application. In PAW- treated micropropagated periwinkle shoots, periwinkle and grapevine plants, qRT-PCR and small RNAs high-throughput sequencing were used to analyse the differential expression of genes involved in the major plant defence pathways confirming the increased expression of some defence/fitness-related genes. Different systems to produce PAW were evaluated to control grapevine yellows diseases in open field and greenhouse for qualitative and quantitative yield parameters, pathogen presence, and gene expression. The results show the capability of PAW to enhance plant defense mechanisms and, as demonstrated in the field trials, confirmed its ability to improve the health status of the treated plants enhancing the plant defence responses and providing inputs for its applications in plant disease management programs.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
