Nanofibers as a Delivery System for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are beneficial symbiotic organisms that play an important role in the water absorption and nutrient assimilation for a wide variety of plants. In this work, the use of polyethylene oxide (PEO) nanofibers was studied as a delivery system for AMF through the coated nanofibers of common bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L var. José Beta). Thus, the effect of PEO nanofibers on the infective capacity of AMF and the indicator parameters of plant growth promotion (height plant, root length, number of leaves, number of flower buds, number of pods, fresh weight, and dry weight) was examined. Likewise, the mycorrhizal colonization rate and the indicator parameters of plant growth promotion between a conventional inoculation strategy and inoculation by nanofiber-coated seeds were compared. The results show that PEO nanofibers did not have any negative effect on the infective capacity of AMF or the indicator parameters of plant growth promotion. On the other hand, the inoculated bean plants showed a significant increase of 200, 140, and 143% in the number of flower buds, fresh weight, and dry weight, respectively. Moreover, no significant differences were observed in the mycorrhizal colonization rate between the two inoculation strategies used, even though the inoculant dose was 97% lower for the nanofiber-coated seeds. Therefore, nanofibers could represent a promising alternative as a seed-coating material and for the development of easy-to-apply and economically viable technologies for the application of AMF inoculants in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, ecological remediation, and related areas.

Recent advances in seed coating technologies: transitioning toward sustainable agriculture

“…Seeds are then wrapped within the inoculated fiber sheets. 59 Adapted with permission from ref. 58, 59 and 105. Copyrights 2019, 2020 American Chemical Society.…”

“…107 Adapted with permission. 59,104,106,107 Copyrights 2019, 2020 American Chemical Society, Elsevier 2018, and Springer Nature 2020.…”

“…8m and n). 107 More recently, researchers 59 have proposed the use of polyethylene oxide (PEO) fibrous seed coatings as loading media for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (Section 4.1) (Fig. 7e and f ).…”

“…(i) Viable cell count of inoculated PGPB in colony forming unit (CFU) as a function of days stored incorporated in PVA/PVP/glycerol membrane -A, PVA + PVP + Gly dispersions -B, and PVA/ PVP/glycerol coated canola seeds -C. 58 ( j) Bar graph showing AMF colonization rate in soil inoculated seeds -CP and seeds coated with AMF loaded PEO nanofibers -SNM. 59 Nanofiber coatings contained 97% less inoculum dose per seed compared to tradition soil based inoculation. Adapted with permission.…”

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber mats for mushroom mycelium growth investigations and formation of mycelium-reinforced nanocomposites

“…A Halloysite-doped mycelial architectures were formed by immersing Aspergillus fumigatus pellets in halloysite nanotube-dispersed water. Campaña and Arias 66 investigated the use of nanofibers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a transport system for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) through the production of coated bean seeds. The results of the study showed that PEO nanofibers have no negative effect on the infectivity of AMF.…”