Evaluation of antifungal activity of nano and bulk forms of copper oxide in wheat (Roshan cultivar)

Authors

1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Department of Plant protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Jiroft, Jiroft, Iran

Abstract
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), as one of the most important cultivated crops in the world and Iran, is constantly threatened by many diseases, including Fusarium contamination. Due to the unique characteristics of nanoparticles, copper oxide nanoparticles show high antibacterial and antifungal properties. The purpose of this research was to comparatively investigate the antifungal effects of copper oxide nanoparticles and its bulk form on the suppression of Fusarium calmorum in wheat. For this purpose, a pot experiment was done with four levels (10, 250, 500, and 1000 mg L-1) of nanoparticles and bulk form of copper oxide treatments in wheat (Roshan cultivar). The results showed that the maximum inhibition of root pathogenicity was observed in a high concentration of nanoparticles as compared to bulk form. The 250 and 500 mg L-1 concentrations of copper oxide nanoparticles caused the highest stem and root length and the highest dry weight of the aerial part and root, respectively. Treatment with 10 and 250 mg L-1 nanoparticles also increased the content of chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, chlorophyll stability index, membrane stability coefficient, and relative leaf water content. While the content of chlorophyll b, malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and proline increased with the increasing concentration of both nanoparticle and bulk forms. The results of this research showed that the low and medium concentrations of nanoparticles were more successful in inhibiting the aforementioned fungus than the bulk form.

Keywords


Arnon, D.I., Tsujimoto, H.Y. & McSwain, B.D. 1967. Ferredoxin and photosynthetic phosphorylation. Nature, 214: 562-566.‌
Asadi, M., Zahedi, M., Ehtemam, M. & Khoshgoftarmanesh, A. 2013. The effect of zinc oxide application as nanoparticles on growth and content of four wheat cultivars under saline stress. Journal Cultural Science and Technology 25: 25-35.
Asaeda, T., Rahman, M. & Abeynayaka, H.D.L. 2022. Hydrogen peroxide can be a plausible biomarker in cyanobacterial bloom treatment. Scientific Reports 12: 1-11.‌
Ashkavand, P., Tabari Koocksra, M. & Zarafshar, M. 2015. Some applications of nanoparticles in plant science. Journal of Food Science and Agriculture 125: 65-73.
Azizpour, K., Shakiba, M.R., Khosh Kholgh Sima, N., Alyari, H., Moghaddam, M., Esfandiari, E. & Pessarakli, M. 2010. Physiological response of spring durum wheat genotypes to salinity. Journal of Plant Nutrition 33: 859-873. (In Persian).
Badawy, A.A., Abdelfattah, N.A., Salem, S.S., Awad, M.F. & Fouda, A. 2021. Efficacy assessment of biosynthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on stored grain insects and their impacts on morphological and physiological traits of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plant. Biology 10: 233. DOI: 10.3390/biology10030233.
Baskar, V., Nayeem, S., Kuppuraj, S.P., Muthu, T. & Ramalingam, S. 2018. Assessment of the effects of metal oxide nanoparticles on the growth, physiology and metabolic responses in in vitro grown eggplant (Solanum melongena). Biotech 8: 1-12.‌
Bates, L. S., Waldren, R.P. & Teare, I. D. 1973. Rapid determination of free proline for water-stress studies. Plant and Soil 39: 205-207.‌
Bondarenko, O., Ivask, A., Käkinen, A. & Kahru, A. 2012. Sub-toxic effects of CuO nanoparticles on bacteria: kinetics, role of Cu ions and possible mechanisms of action. Environmental Pollution 169: 81-89.
Borgatta, J., Ma, C., Hudson-Smith, N., Elmer, W., Plaza Perez, C.D., De La Torre-Roche, R., Zuverza-Mena, N., Haynes, C., White, J. & Hamers, R.J. 2018. Copper based nanomaterials suppress root fungal disease in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus): role of particle morphology, composition and dissolution behavior. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 6: 14847-14856.‌
Boukaya, N., Goudjal, Y., Zamoum, M., Chaabane Chaouch, F., Sabaou, N., Mathieu, F. & Zitouni, A. 2018. Biocontrol and plant-growth-promoting capacities of actinobacterial strains from the Algerian Sahara and characterization of Streptosporangium becharense SG1 as a promising biocontrol agent. Biocontrol Science and Technology 28: 858-873.‌
Chalandar, H.E., Ghorbani, H.R., Attar, H. & Alavi, S.A. 2017. Antifungal effect of copper and copper oxide nanoparticles against Penicillium on orange fruit. Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 14: 279-284.‌
Chwalibog, A., Sawosz, E., Hotowy, A., Szeliga, J., Mitura, S., Mitura, K., Grodzik, M., Orlowski, P. & Sokolowska, A. 2010. Visualization of interaction between inorganic nanoparticles and bacteria or fungi. International Journal of Nanomedicine 5: 1085. DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S13532.
Coombes, A.J., Lep, N.W. & Phipps, D.A. 1976. Effect of copper on IAA oxidase activity in root tissue of barley (Hordeum vulgare. c. v. zephyr). Plant Physiology 55: 236-242.
Dai, Y., Wang, Z., Zhao, J., Xu, L., Xu, L., Yu, X., Wei, Y. & Xing, B. 2018. Interaction of CuO nanoparticles with plant cells: internalization, oxidative stress, electron transport chain disruption, and toxicogenomic responses. Environmental Science: Nano 5: 2269-2281.‌
Dehghanpour-Farashah, S., Taheri, P. & Falahati-Rastegar, M. 2019. Effect of polyamines and nitric oxide in Piriformospora indica-induced resistance and basal immunity of wheat against Fusarium pseudograminearum. Biological Control 136: 104006. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2019.104006.
Desai, S., Dubey, S.C. & Prasad, R.D. 2020. Impacts of climate change on Fusarium species vis-à-vis adaptation strategies. Indian Phytopathology 73: 593-603.‌
Dignam, B.E., Marshall, S.D., Wall, A.J., Mtandavari, Y.F., Gerard, E.M., Hicks, E., Cameron, C., Aalders, L.T., Shi, S. & Bell, N.L. 2022. Impacts of soil‐borne disease on plant yield and farm profit in dairying soils. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment 1: 16-29.‌
El Shafey, A.M. 2020. Green synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles from plant leaf extracts and their applications: A review. Green Processing and Synthesis 9: 304-339.‌
Etesami, H., Fatemi, H. & Rizwan, M. 2021. Interactions of nanoparticles and salinity stress at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in plants: A review. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 225: 112769. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112769. ‌
Faraz, A., Faizan, M., Hayat, S. & Alam, P. 2022. Foliar Application of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Increases the Photosynthetic Efficiency and Antioxidant Activity in Brassica juncea. Journal of Food Quality 2022. DOI: 10.1155/2022/5535100.
Galindo-González, L. & Deyholos, M.K. 2016. RNA-seq Transcriptome Response of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) to the Pathogenic Fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini. Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 1766. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01766.
Ganjeali, V., Cheniany, M., Taheri, P. & Mazaheri-Tirani, M. 2022. Evaluation of treatment of copper oxide nanoparticles on inhibition of Fusarium culmorum in wheat. 22nd national and 10th international congress on Biology. Shahrekord, Iran.
Ghahremaninejad, F., Hoseini, E. & Jalali, S. 2021. The cultivation and domestication of wheat and barley in Iran, brief review of a long history. The Botanical Review 87: 1-22.‌
Hafeez, A., Razzaq, A., Mahmood, T. & Jhanzab, H.M. 2015. Potential of copper nanoparticles to increase growth and yield of wheat. Polymers for Advanced Technologies 1: 6-11.‌
Hao, Y., Fang, P., Ma, C., White, J.C., Xiang, Z., Wang, H., Zhang, Zh., Rui, Y. & Xing, B. 2019. Engineered nanomaterials inhibit Podosphaera pannosa infection on rose leaves by regulating phytohormones. Environmental Research 170: 1-6.‌
Hao, Y., Yuan, W., Ma, C., White, J. C., Zhang, Z., Adeel, M., Zhou, T., Rui, Y. & Xing, B. 2018. Engineered nanomaterials suppress Turnip mosaic virus infection in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana). Environmental Science: Nano 5: 1685-1693.‌
Health, RL. & Packer, L. 1968. Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplast. I. Kinetics and stoichiometry of fatty acid peroxidation. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics125: 189-198.
Hossain, Z., Yasmeen, F. & Komatsu, S. 2020. Nanoparticles: synthesis, morphophysiological effects, and proteomic responses of crop plants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21: 3056. DOI: 10.3390/ijms21093056.
Hsiao, M.T., Chen, S.F., Shieh, D.B. & Yeh, C.S. 2006. One-pot synthesis of hollow Au3Cu1 spherical-like and biomineral botallackite Cu2 (OH) 3Cl flowerlike architectures exhibiting antimicrobial activity. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110: 205-210.‌
Husen, A. & Siddiqi, K. S. 2014. Photosynthesis of nanoparticles: concept, controversy and application. Nanoscale Research Letters 9: 1-24.‌
Ibrahim, A.S., Ali, G.A., Hassanein, A., Attia, A.M. & Marzouk, E.R. 2022. Toxicity and uptake of CuO nanoparticles: Evaluation of an emerging nanofertilizer on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Sustainability 14: 4914. DOI: 10.3390/su14094914.
Kazemi, M. & Shariati, F. 2019. The effect of Copper Oxide nanoparticle on pigments systems of algae Scenedesmus dimorphus. Biological Journal of Microorganism 8: 13-25.‌
Kazemian, S., Zarrinnia, V., Khosroshahli, M. & Hasanzadeh, N. 2019. Investigation on the control effects of green copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles on the tomato gray mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea. Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 35: 54-67. (In Persian)
Ksieniewicz-Woźniak, E., Bryła, M., Michałowska, D., Waśkiewicz, A. & Yoshinari, T. 2021. Transformation of Selected Fusarium Toxins and Their Masked Forms during Malting of Various Cultivars of Wheat. Toxins 13: 866. DOI: 10.3390/toxins13120866.
Kumar, P., Yadava, R.K., Gollen, B., Kumar, S., Verma, R.K. & Yadav, S. 2011. Nutritional contents and medicinal properties of wheat: a review. Life Sciences and Medicine Research 22: 1-10.‌
Kumari, K., Warepam, M., Bansal, A.K., Dar, T. A., Uversky, V.N. & Singh, L.R. 2022. The gut metabolite, trimethylamine N-oxide inhibits protein folding by affecting cis–trans isomerization and induces cell cycle arrest. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 79: 1-16.‌
Liang, G., Pu, Y., Yin, L., Liu, R., Ye, B., Su, Y. & Li, Y. 2009. Influence of different sizes of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on hepatic and renal functions in rats with correlation to oxidative stress. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 72: 740-745.‌
Ma, C., Borgatta, J., De La Torre-Roche, R., Zuverza-Mena, N., White, J.C., Hamers, R.J. & Elmer, W.H. 2019. Time-dependent transcriptional response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to Cu nanoparticle exposure upon infection with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 7: 10064-10074.‌
Nair, P.M.G. & Chung, I.M. 2014. Assessment of silver nanoparticle-induced physiological and molecular changes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 21: 8858-8869.‌
Oussou-Azo, A.F., Nakama, T., Nakamura, M., Futagami, T. & Vestergaard, M.D.C.M. 2020. Antifungal potential of nanostructured crystalline copper and its oxide forms. Nanomaterials 10: 1003. DOI: 10.3390/nano10051003.
Pariona, N., Paraguay-Delgado, F., Basurto-Cereceda, S., Morales-Mendoza, J. E., Hermida-Montero, L. A. & Mtz-Enriquez, A.I. 2020. Shape-dependent antifungal activity of ZnO particles against phytopathogenic fungi. Applied Nanoscience 10: 435-443.‌
Parry, D.W., Jenkinson, P. & McLeod, L. 1995. Fusarium ear blight (scab) in small grains-a review. Plant Pathology 44: 207-238.
Pellan, L., Durand, N., Martinez, V., Fontana, A., Schorr-Galindo, S. & Strub, C. 2020. Commercial biocontrol agents reveal contrasting comportments against two mycotoxigenic fungi in cereals: Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium verticillioides. Toxins 12: 152. DOI: 10.3390/toxins12030152.
Pourakbar, L. & Ebrahimzade, N. 2014. Growth and physiological responses of Zea mays L. to Cu and Ni stress. Applied Field Crops Research 27: 147-159.‌ ‌
Rajput, V., Minkina, T., Sushkova, S., Behal, A., Maksimov, A., Blicharska, E., Ghazaryan, K., Movsesyan, H. & Barsova, N. 2020. ZnO and CuO nanoparticles: a threat to soil organisms, plants, and human health. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 42: 147-158.‌
Rastegaran, M. M., Hassanpour, H. & Ziyadi, H. 2022. Synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles induced antioxidant activity and total phenolic and flavonoid content in Matricaria chamomilla seedlings. Iranian Journal of Plant Physiology 12: 4003-4011.
Saharan, V., Sharma, G., Yadav, M., Choudhary, M.K., Sharma, S.S., Pal, A., Raliya, R., Biswas, P. & Biswas, P. 2015. Synthesis and in vitro antifungal efficacy of Cu–chitosan nanoparticles against pathogenic fungi of tomato. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 75: 346-353.‌
Scherm, B., Balmas, V., Spanu, F., Pani, G., Delogu, G., Pasquali, M. & Miqheli, Q. 2013. Fusarium culmorum: causal agent of foot and root rot and head blight on wheat. Molecular Plant Pathology 14: 323-341.
Smart, R.E. & Bingham, G.E. 1974. Rapid estimates of relative water content. Plant Physiology 53: 258-260.‌
Soltani, E., Rajabian, T., Abrishamchi, P. & Tali, D. 2016. Physiological and biochemical responses of (Melissa officinalis) to nickel stress and the protective role of salicylic acid. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 63: 330-343.
Spanos, A., Athanasiou, K., Ioannou, A., Fotopoulos, V. & Krasia-Christoforou, T. 2021. Functionalized magnetic nanomaterials in agricultural applications. Nanomaterials. 11: 3106. DOI: 10.3390/nano11113106.
Swapnil, P., Meena, M., Singh, S.K., Dhuldhaj, U. P. & Marwal, A. 2021. Vital roles of carotenoids in plants and humans to deteriorate stress with its structure, biosynthesis, metabolic engineering and functional aspects. Current Plant Biology 26: 100203. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpb.2021.100203.
Terzi, R. & Kadioglu, A. 2006. Drought stress tolerance and the antioxidant enzyme system. Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica 48: 89-96.‌
Tiwari, S.K., Sahoo, S., Wang, N. & Huczko, A. 2020. Graphene research and their outputs: Status and prospect. Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices 5: 10-29.‌
Tzvetkova, N. & Kolarov, D. 1996. Effect of air pollutionon carbohydrate and nutrients concentrations in some deciduous tree species, Bulg. Journal of Plant Physiology 22: 53-63.
Velikova, V., Yordanov, I. & Edreva, A. 2000 Oxidative stress and some antioxidant systems in acid Rain-treated bean plants: Protective role of exogenous poly-amines. Plant Science 151: 59-66.
Viet, P.V., Nguyen, H.T., Cao, T.M. & Hieu, L.V. 2016. Fusarium antifungal activities of copper nanoparticles synthesized by a chemical reduction method. Journal of Nanomaterials 2016. DOI: 10.1155/2016/1957612 .
Wagacha, J.M. & Muthomi, J.W. 2007. Fusarium culmorum: Infection process, mechanisms of mycotoxin production and their role in pathogenesis in wheat. Crop Protection 26: 877-885.
Winter, R.S., Yan, J., Busche, C., Mathieson, J.S., Prescimone, A., Brechin, E. K., Long, D.L. & Cronin, L. 2013. Nanoscale control of polyoxometalate assembly: a {Mn8W4} cluster within a {W36Si4Mn10} cluster showing a new type of isomerism. Chemistry–A European Journal 19: 2976-2981.‌
Wu, Z.P., Caracciolo, D.T., Maswadeh, Y., Wen, J., Kong, Z., Shan, S., Hopkins, E., Park, K., Sharma, A., Ren, Y., Petkov, V., Wang, L. & Zhong, C.J. 2021. Alloying–realloying enabled high durability for Pt–Pd-3d-transition metal nanoparticle fuel cell catalysts. Nature Communications 12: 1-14.‌
Yu, Z., Li, Q., Wang, J., Yu, Y., Wang, Y., Zhou, Q. & Li, P. 2020. Reactive oxygen species-related nanoparticle toxicity in the biomedical field. Nanoscale Research Letters 15: 1-14.‌
Zakharova, O., Kolesnikov, E., Shatrova, N. & Gusev, A. 2019. The effects of CuO nanoparticles on wheat seeds and seedlings and Alternaria solani fungi: in vitro study. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 226: 012036.
Zuverza-Mena, N., Medina-Velo, I.A., Barrios, A.C., Tan, W., Peralta-Videa, J.R. & Gardea-Torresdey, J.L. 2015. Copper nanoparticles/compounds impact agronomic and physiological parameters in cilantro (Coriandrum sativum). Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 17: 1783-1793.‌

  • Receive Date 08 June 2026
  • Publish Date 08 June 2026