Fabrication of an alginate-based ZhiNengCong gel showed an enhanced antiviral and plant growth promoting functions

Tobacco mosaic disease is a worldwide viral disease that can cause huge economic losses. Plant immune inducers have become the main force in the prevention , treatment of viral disease own to their high efficiency and rapid effect. However, since tobacco mosaic disease can occur at any point in the plant growth cycle, a single application period cannot guarantee the completely management. In this study, an extract from Paecilomyces variotii named ZhiNengCong (ZNC), which can fight against tobacco mosaic disease with 65% control effect , improve the promotion of tobacco stem girth, was selected from five commercial antiviral medicines, and a sustained release sodium alginate (Alg)-based ZNC (ZNC@Alg) was prepared by physical absorption. ZNC@Alg, who contains only 5 mg/mL ZNC, can release ZNC for 7 consecutive days, and displayed an enhanced effect in inducing the PAL-mediated salicylic acid signaling pathway activation to participate in the inhibition of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged tobacco mosaic virus (TMV-GFP) infection, even after 7 days of the application. Notably, field experiments showed that the control effect of ZNC@Alg was up to 88%, which was significantly better than that of ZNC with the same concentration (10 mu g per plant). In addition, ZNC@Alg exhibited a stronger growth-promoting effect than ZNC, which significantly increased the wet weight of tobacco. Taken together, we screened out a plant immune inducer ZNC that can effectively inhibit tobacco virus disease, and created ZNC@Alg with higher control effect and growth promotion effect, laying a foundation for effective field man-agement of tobacco mosaic disease.

Automated summary

Tobacco mosaic disease is a global viral disease that causes significant economic losses. Plant immune inducers, such as ZhiNengCong (ZNC), have been effective in managing viral diseases due to their high efficiency. A sustained release ZNC-based alginate (Alg) called ZNC@Alg was developed, which demonstrated enhanced control effect and growth promotion effect against tobacco mosaic disease. Field experiments showed that ZNC@Alg had a control effect of up to 88%, significantly better than ZNC alone. This study provides a foundation for effective field management of tobacco mosaic disease.