Dilip Deepak, Modupalli Nikitha, Rahman Md Mahfuzur, Kariyat Rupesh
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA.
Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 29;15(1):3680. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-87560-0.
Plasma is considered as the fourth state of matter, and atmospheric cold plasma (cold plasma) is a type of plasma consisting of ionized gases containing excited species of atoms, molecules, ions, and free radicals at near room temperature. Cold plasma is generated by applying high voltage to gases, causing it to ionize thus forming plasma. Although cold plasma has been found to break seed dormancy and improve germination rate, only a few studies have explored the potential of cold plasma against insect herbivory. Given that cold plasma produces reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that can activate plant signalling molecules, it is plausible that cold plasma can have differential effects against insect herbivores. To test this, we evaluated the effectiveness of cold plasma on a polyphagous lepidopteran pest, Fall armyworm (FAW) [Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)] on rice (Oryza sativa L.) using an atmospheric plasma jet reactor that generated cold plasma using ambient air as the source gas. We treated rice seeds from two commonly grown Arkansas cultivars (Jewel and Diamond) with cold plasma, followed by irrigation with Cold Plasma-Activated Water (PAW). We then independently tested FAW growth on an artificial diet partially made with PAW. Our results show that cold plasma significantly affected the feeding, growth, and development of FAW, irrespective of the rice varieties. The effects of cold plasma treatment resulted in reduced damage by FAW, lower mass gain and longer pupation period on FAW compared to the untreated control. However, the effects of cold plasma on rice growth and development were dependent on the rice varieties. Cold plasma treatment also induced detrimental effects on FAW leading to ~ 25% mortality on cold plasma-treated plants when compared to untreated controls. Collectively, these findings offer significant evidence of the potential of cold plasma as a novel component for sustainable pest management.
等离子体被视为物质的第四态，而大气冷等离子体（冷等离子体）是一种等离子体，由在接近室温下包含激发态原子、分子、离子和自由基的电离气体组成。冷等离子体通过对气体施加高电压产生，使其电离从而形成等离子体。尽管已发现冷等离子体可打破种子休眠并提高发芽率，但仅有少数研究探索了冷等离子体对抗昆虫食草行为的潜力。鉴于冷等离子体产生的活性氧和氮物种可激活植物信号分子，冷等离子体可能对昆虫食草动物产生不同影响是合理的。为验证这一点，我们使用以环境空气作为源气体产生冷等离子体的大气等离子体射流反应器，评估了冷等离子体对水稻（Oryza sativa L.）上的多食性鳞翅目害虫草地贪夜蛾[Spodoptera frugiperda（鳞翅目：夜蛾科）]的效果。我们用冷等离子体处理了阿肯色州两个常见种植品种（Jewel和Diamond）的水稻种子，随后用冷等离子体活化水（PAW）进行灌溉。然后我们独立测试了草地贪夜蛾在部分由PAW制成的人工饲料上的生长情况。我们的结果表明，无论水稻品种如何，冷等离子体均显著影响草地贪夜蛾的取食、生长和发育。与未处理的对照相比，冷等离子体处理的效果导致草地贪夜蛾造成的损害减少、体重增加降低以及化蛹期延长。然而，冷等离子体对水稻生长和发育的影响取决于水稻品种。与未处理的对照相比，冷等离子体处理还对草地贪夜蛾产生了有害影响，导致在冷等离子体处理的植株上死亡率约为25%。总体而言，这些发现为冷等离子体作为可持续害虫管理新成分的潜力提供了重要证据。
