Effects of biogenic silver nanoparticles applied to Nepeta cataria L. seeds on sterilization and germination

Plant tissue culture applications are carried out under sterile conditions. Culture media must be created without biological contamination and must be maintained aseptically. Contaminations that occur in the culture media may affect experimental results by preventing adequate nutrition and the development of plants. Contamination is mostly caused by microorganisms found on the surfaces of plant tissues used in culture processes. For this reason, explants must be subjected to sterilization processes before culture processes. However, sterilants used for this purpose may have toxic effects on plant tissues, and in recent years, there has been a need to discover effective sterilants that do not show toxic effects. This study aimed to determine the potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) in surface sterilization processes for sterile in vitro germination of Nepeta cataria L. seeds. In order to determine the most appropriate concentration and time to be applied to plant seeds, five different concentrations (0, 75, 100, 125, 150 mg/L) and three different times (5, 10, 20 min) were tested. As a result of the applications, it was determined that the lowest contamination was in the seeds that were kept in 70% ethyl alcohol for 3 min and then in AgNP solutions at a concentration of 150 mg/L for 20 min. No toxicity symptoms were observed in the plants obtained. The results show that AgNPs can be used to obtain in vitro sterile plants.