Effects of Magnesium Oxide and Magnesium Hydroxide Microparticle Foliar Treatment on Tomato PR Gene Expression and Leaf Microbiome

Recently, metal oxides and magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles (NPs) with high surface-to-volume ratios were shown to possess antibacterial properties with applications in biomedicine and agriculture. To assess recent observations from field trials on tomatoes showing resistance to pathogen attacks, porous micron-scale particles composed of nano-grains of MgO were hydrated and sprayed on the leaves of healthy tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants in a 20-day program. The results showed that the spray induced (a) a modest and selective stress gene response that was consistent with the absence of phytotoxicity and the production of salicylic acid as a signalling response to pathogens; (b) a shift of the phylloplane microbiota from near 100% dominance by Gram (-) bacteria, leaving extremophiles and cyanobacteria to cover the void; and (c) a response of the fungal leaf phylloplane that showed that the leaf epiphytome was unchanged but the fungal load was reduced by about 70%. The direct microbiome changes together with the low level priming of the plant's immune system may explain the previously observed resistance to pathogen assaults in field tomato plants sprayed with the same hydrated porous micron-scale particles.

Automated summary

Recent studies have shown that metal oxides and magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles have antibacterial properties, which can be applied in biomedicine and agriculture. By spraying hydrated MgO nanoparticles on tomato plants, researchers induced a stress gene response, altered the microbiota, and reduced the fungal load on the leaves, potentially explaining the observed resistance to pathogen attacks.