Rhamnolipid Modified Silica Nanoparticles Control Rice Blast Disease by Enhancing Antifungal Activity <i>In Vivo</i> and Antioxidant Defense System of Rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.)
Blast disease caused by <i>Magnaporthe oryzae</i> is a devastating disease that limits rice grain production. Here, we synthesized rhamnolipid (RL) modified silica nanoparticles (SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs) based on the excellent antimicrobial activity of RL against various phytopathogens and the role of SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs in alleviating plant diseases and investigated the roles and mechanisms of RL@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs application in controlling rice blast disease. Two-week-old rice seedlings were sprayed with 100 mL/L of different materials before pathogen inoculation, and blast incidence was investigated 5 days after inoculation. The results showed that RL<sub>0.1</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs were the most suitable mixture ratio in suppressing blast and enhanced plant resistance. Compared with the control, application of RL<sub>0.1</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs significantly reduced rice blast disease incidence by 10.80% and the relative growth of fungus by 97.05% and increased the shoot dry biomass by 13.33%, which alleviated the infection pressure of rice blast fungus. Additionally, after RL<sub>0.1</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs treatment, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase activities in rice leaves were significantly increased by 47.02%, 34.26%, and 44.36%, respectively, the total phenolics content was significantly increased by 24.14%, and the malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide content was decreased by 5.28% and 14.58%, respectively. RL<sub>0.1</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs also improved plant nutrient status and enhanced disease resistance of infected plants by restoring nutrient balance or ion homeostasis, including increased potassium concentration (23.84%) in leaves and Si concentration (60.34%) in roots and decreased magnesium (11.89%) and iron concentrations (30.55%) in rice leaves. In summary, our results suggest that RL<sub>0.1</sub>@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs enhance rice plant resistance against blast by enhancing the antifungal activity <i>in vivo</i>, activating the antioxidant defense system, and affecting nutrient acquisition in rice seedlings. RL@SiO<sub>2</sub>NPs have shown potential application as green and efficient agricultural chemical substitutes in plant disease management.
Authors
- Xiaoyuan Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6365-0997)
- Lei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2297-1241)
- Ying Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5923-3306)
- Kunzheng Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4888-2239)
- Xiaolin Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4606-3085)
- Jinxiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4523-4359)
- Sheng Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4797-5310)
- Jianyuan Yang
- Sicong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0738-5754)
- Xinwen Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2319-4912)
Institutions
- South China Agricultural University (CN)
- Key Laboratory of Guangdong Province (CN)
- Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2024-12-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c11833
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Silicon Effects in Agriculture
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province