Agronanotecnología: una nueva herramienta para la agricultura moderna

Nanotechnology (NT) is focused to study the materials at the atomic and molecular scale (1-100 nm), the most studied are metallic nanoparticles (NPs) and those derived from carbon. In modern agriculture NPs are investigated because they offer the possibility to control plant pathogens and to increase the yield of plant crops. Nanotechnology provides scientific tools to design and prepare important products such as fertilizers and plant growth promoters. However, scientific literature is plenty of mix results; for example, some papers reports the benefits obtained from the application of carbon nanotubes and metal NPs, promoting plant growth effects, while others papers mention inhibition and phytotoxicity on seeds and plants. NT in agriculture to produce nanofertilizers and pesticides is still being investigated; however, derivative products and applications have been steadily increasing in recent years and are expected to continue growing. Currently, the worldwide demand for food is increasing and research and products to enhance crops yield are still insufficient. Therefore, the industry needs to generate nanoproducts for the development of a sustainable agriculture. Consequently, this review presents recent results about the use of NPs in agriculture, and its potential uses as nanofertilizers and plant growth promoters.La nanotecnología (NT) estudia los materiales cuyo tamaño corresponde a la escala atómica y molecular (1-100 nm), destacando como los más estudiados a las nanopartículas (NPs) metálicas y las derivadas del carbono. En lo que respecta a la agricultura moderna, los estudios relacionados a este tipo de materiales han ido avanzando y se prevé un importante crecimiento en los reportes de resultados de investigación en el área, debido a la posibilidad de incrementar con su uso, la producción de alimentos. En este sentido, la NT brinda la posibilidad de generar nanofertilizantes y promotores del crecimiento. No obstante, actualmente existen imprecisiones sobre los resultados obtenidos, por una parte, algunas investigaciones muestran que la aplicación de los nanotubos de carbono y las NPs metálicas tienen un efecto benéfico en el crecimiento de las plantas, mientras que otros trabajos reportan inhibición y fitotoxicidad. Actualmente, la demanda de alimentos básicos a nivel mundial aumenta, pero las investigaciones y productos para incrementar el rendimiento de los cultivos son aún insuficientes. Por lo tanto, una opción para el desarrollo de una agricultura sustentable pudiese ser la generación de nanoproductos. Debido a lo antes señalado, este artículo analiza recientes investigaciones relacionadas con la utilización de las NPs en la agricultura y sus usos potenciales como nanofertilizantes y promotores de crecimiento de las plantas

Agronanotechnology : a new tool for modern agriculture

La nanotecnología (NT) estudia los materiales cuyo tamaño corresponde a la escala atómica y molecular (1-100 nm), destacando como los más estudiados a las nanopartículas (NPs) metálicas y las derivadas del carbono. En lo que respecta a la agricultura moderna, los estudios relacionados a este tipo de materiales han ido avanzando y se prevé un importante crecimiento en los reportes de resultados de investigación en el área, debido a la posibilidad de incrementar con su uso, la producción de alimentos. En este sentido, la NT brinda la posibilidad de generar nanofertilizantes y promotores del crecimiento. No obstante, actualmente existen imprecisiones sobre los resultados obtenidos, por una parte, algunas investigaciones muestran que la aplicación de los nanotubos de carbono y las NPs metálicas tienen un efecto benéfico en el crecimiento de las plantas, mientras que otros trabajos reportan inhibición y fitotoxicidad. Actualmente, la demanda de alimentos básicos a nivel mundial aumenta, pero las investigaciones y productos para incrementar el rendimiento de los cultivos son aún insuficientes. Por lo tanto, una opción para el desarrollo de una agricultura sustentable pudiese ser la generación de nanoproductos. Debido a lo antes señalado, este artículo analiza recientes investigaciones relacionadas con la utilización de las NPs en la agricultura y sus usos potenciales como nanofertilizantes y promotores de crecimiento de las plantas.Nanotechnology (NT) is focused to study the materials at the atomic and molecular scale (1-100 nm), the most studied are metallic nanoparticles (NPs) and those derived from carbon. In modern agriculture NPs are investigated because they offer the possibility to control plant pathogens and to increase the yield of plant crops. Nanotechnology provides scientific tools to design and prepare important products such as fertilizers and plant growth promoters. However, scientific literature is plenty of mix results; for example, some papers reports the benefits obtained from the application of carbon nanotubes and metal NPs, promoting plant growth effects, while others papers mention inhibition and phytotoxicity on seeds and plants. NT in agriculture to produce nanofertilizers and pesticides is still being investigated; however, derivative products and applications have been steadily increasing in recent years and are expected to continue growing. Currently, the worldwide demand for food is increasing and research and products to enhance crops yield are still insufficient. Therefore, the industry needs to generate nanoproducts for the development of a sustainable agriculture. Consequently, this review presents recent results about the use of NPs in agriculture, and its potential uses as nanofertilizers and plant growth promoters.Fil: Lira Saldivar, Ricardo Hugo. Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada (Coahuila, México)Fil: Méndez Argüello, Bulmaro. Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada (Coahuila, México)Fil: Vera Reyes, Ileana. Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada (Coahuila, México)Fil: De los Santos Villarreal, Gladys. Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada (Coahuila, México

<i>Purshia plicata</i> Triggers and Regulates Proteins Related to Apoptosis in HeLa Cancer Cells

Cervical cancer represents a public health problem, develops resistance to traditional therapies and cost-of-treatment is high. These disadvantages have led to the search for alternative bioactive-compound-based therapies. Said bioactive compounds include phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and tannins. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of a P. plicata extract on the HeLa cell line. Viability and apoptosis assays were run on the two cell lines treated with the extract. The peptides, up- and down-expressed in both cell lines, were identified by PDQuest analysis software and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). Our results show that a 500 mg/L treatment deregulated cell viability, with different apoptotic morphologies observed which are associated with the presence of bio-compounds, which up- and down-regulated the peptides. In conclusion, P. plicata regulates proteins associated with apoptosis in HeLa cancer cells

Colletotrichum brevisporum and C. musicola Causing Leaf Anthracnose of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) in Mexico

Taro (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum), family Araceae, is an important tropical crop cultivated throughout the world for its edible corms. During the summer of 2017, irregular brown lesions, typical of anthracnose were observed on approx. 40% of taro plants in a commercial orchard located in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Small pieces of the lesions of five symptomatic leaves were surface disinfected with 1% NaOCl for 2 min followed by rinsing with sterile distilled water and plated on potato dextrose agar plates which were then incubated at 25°C for 5 days in darkness. Colletotrichum-like colonies were consistently isolated and 10 monoconidial isolates were obtained. Two isolates were selected as representatives for morphological characterization, multilocus phylogenetic analysis, and pathogenicity tests. The isolates were designated as UACH289 and UACH290 and were deposited in the Culture Collection of Phytopathogenic Fungi at the Chapingo Autonomous University. Conidia (n = 100) of isolate UACH289 were cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate, 15.1 to 18.4 × 4.4 to 5.2 μm, with the apex rounded and the base, rounded to truncate; appressoria (n = 20) were single, dark brown, and with undulate or lobate margin. Whereas conidia (n = 100) of isolate UACH290 were cylindrical to ellipsoidal, hyaline, aseptate, 12.3 to 17.0 × 3.8 to 5.0 μm; appressoria (n = 20) were irregular, bullet-shaped to elliptical, dark brown, with undulate or lobate margin. For molecular identification, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (White et al. 1990), and fragments of actin (ACT), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and β-tubulin (TUB2) genes were amplified by PCR (Weir et al. 2012), and sequenced. A phylogenetic analysis based on Bayesian inference and including published ITS, ACT, GAPDH, and TUB2 data for Colletotrichum species was performed. After phylogenetic analysis, isolates UACH289 and UACH290 clustered with C. brevisporum (Accessions nos. ITS: MK862121; ACT: MK862124; GAPDH: MK862122; and TUB2: MK862123) and C. musicola (Accessions nos. ITS: MK882586; ACT: MK882589; GAPDH: MK882587; and TUB2: MK882588), respectively. Pathogenicity of the fungi was verified by spraying conidial suspensions (1 × 106 spores ml-1) on the upper surface of 10 taro leaves. Ten control leaves were sprayed using sterilized water. All plants were kept under greenhouse conditions at 25°C for 10 days. Anthracnose symptoms were observed on all inoculated leaves after 12 days, whereas control leaves remained symptomless. Koch´s postulates were fulfilled when the fungi were re-isolated 100% from the diseased leaves. The experiment was performed twice. Colletotrichum brevisporum has been previously reported as a pathogen on several crops including Annona muricata, Carica papaya, Sechium edule, Capsicum annuum, Passiflora edulis, Citrus medica, P. edulis, Cucurbita moschata, and C. pepo (Farr and Rossman 2019), whereas Colletotrichum musicola only has been associated with Musa sp. in Mexico (Damm et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. brevisporum and C. musicola causing leaf anthracnose of taro in Mexico and worldwide.Fil: Vásquez-López, Alfonso. Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Unidad Oaxaca; MéxicoFil: Palacios-Torres, Rogelio Enrique. Universidad del Papaloapan, Instituto de Agroingeniería; MéxicoFil: Camacho-Tapia, Moises. Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo; MéxicoFil: Granados-Echegoyen, Carlos. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche; MéxicoFil: Bernardi Lima, Nelson. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola.; ArgentinaFil: Vera-Reyes, Ileana. Universidad Autonoma Chapingo; MéxicoFil: Tovar Pedraza, Juan Manuel. Universidad Autonoma Chapingo; MéxicoFil: Leyva-Mir, Santos Gerardo. Universidad Autonoma Chapingo; Méxic