Desouky Mohamed M, Abou-Saleh Radwa H, Moussa Tarek A A, Fahmy Heba M
Biophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Nanoscience and Technology Program, Faculty of Science, Galala University, Galala City, New Galala City, 43511, Suez, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 6;15(1):1004. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79574-x.
Chemical fungicides have been used to control fungal diseases like Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. These fungicides must be restricted because of their toxicity and the development of resistance strains. Therefore, utilizing natural nanoscale materials in agricultural production is a potential alternative. This work aimed to investigate the antifungal properties of a nanocomposite (nano-chitosan-coated, green-synthesized selenium nanoparticles) against the plant pathogenic fungus S. sclerotiorum. Chemical reduction was used to produce selenium nanoparticles from citrus peel extracts, and ionotropic gelation was used to produce chitosan nanoparticles. The nanocomposite has been produced using selenium nanoparticles stabilized by chitosan and cross-linked with sodium tripolyphosphate. Transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, UV-VIS spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize all produced nanostructures. The in vitro antifungal activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of all bulk and nanostructures are investigated at (0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100) ppm concentrations. Scanning electron microscopy was used to detect structural deformations in the fungal mycelium. The findings support the successful synthesis and characterization of all nanoparticles. Lemon peel extract produced smaller, more stable, and distributed selenium nanoparticles (42.28 ± 18.5 nm) than orange peel extract (85.7 ± 140.22 nm). Nanostructures, particularly nanocomposite, have shown a considerable increase in antifungal efficacy compared to bulk structures. At a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.5 ppm, the nanocomposite exhibited 100% inhibitory activity. The nanocomposite with a concentration of 0.5 ppm exhibited the lowest average fungal biomass (0.32 ± 0.05 g) among all tested nanostructures. Fungal hyphae treated with 0.5 ppm of nanocomposite within 18 h of treatment revealed substantial damage and deformation. These results provide new insights into the nanocomposite as an eco-friendly and promising antifungal agent against other plant pathogenic fungi.
化学杀菌剂已被用于控制诸如核盘菌等真菌病害。由于其毒性和耐药菌株的产生，这些杀菌剂必须受到限制。因此，在农业生产中利用天然纳米材料是一种潜在的替代方法。这项工作旨在研究一种纳米复合材料（纳米壳聚糖包覆的绿色合成硒纳米颗粒）对植物病原真菌核盘菌的抗真菌特性。采用化学还原法从柑橘皮提取物中制备硒纳米颗粒，并采用离子凝胶法制备壳聚糖纳米颗粒。该纳米复合材料是用壳聚糖稳定并与三聚磷酸钠交联的硒纳米颗粒制备而成。利用透射电子显微镜、动态光散射、X射线衍射、紫外可见光谱和傅里叶变换红外光谱对所有制备的纳米结构进行了表征。在（0.5、1、5、10、50、100）ppm浓度下研究了所有块状和纳米结构的体外抗真菌活性和最低抑菌浓度。利用扫描电子显微镜检测真菌菌丝体的结构变形。研究结果支持了所有纳米颗粒的成功合成与表征。柠檬皮提取物制备的硒纳米颗粒（42.28±18.5纳米）比橙皮提取物制备的（85.7±140.22纳米）更小、更稳定且分布更均匀。与块状结构相比，纳米结构，特别是纳米复合材料，其抗真菌效果有了显著提高。在最低抑菌浓度为0.5 ppm时，纳米复合材料表现出100%的抑制活性。在所有测试的纳米结构中，浓度为0.5 ppm的纳米复合材料表现出最低的平均真菌生物量（0.32±0.05克）。在处理18小时内，用0.5 ppm纳米复合材料处理的真菌菌丝显示出严重的损伤和变形。这些结果为纳米复合材料作为一种生态友好且有前景的抗其他植物病原真菌的抗真菌剂提供了新的见解。
