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PHYTO-SYNTHESIS OF MANGANESE OXIDE NANOPARTICLES FOR THE

MITIGATION OF PHYTOPATHOGENIC FUNGI Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

*Authors Nouf Albulushi¹, Hanin Alhuraibi¹, Reham Aldahasi¹, Dhuha Alsuwaid², Aisha Alrajhi¹ and Afrah E. Mohammed^1,

Received 1 November 2023

Accepted for publication 1 December 2023

Published 19 December 2023 Volume 1:1 Pages 5—16

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Peer reviewer comments 2

¹Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh,11671, Saudi Arabia.

²Health Science Research Center, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence: AFAMohammed@pnu.edu.sa*

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Abstract

The green synthesis approach was used to fabricate manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnO NPs) using an aqueous extract of Russelia equisetiformis leaves as the study's primary aim. The biosynthesized MnO NPs were monitored using various techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy (UV), dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The latter was conducted to determine the organic ingredients in the leaves extract that could be responsible for the bioreduction and stabilization of MnO NPs that were further tested for their antifungal activity against tomato pathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Results indicated the successful formation of MnO NPs, as confirmed by peak absorbance of the UV–Vis spectra at 325.09 nm. The SEM and TEM analysis showed the presence of spherical nanoparticles, while the EDX analysis revealed intense signals of Mn. FTIR indicated the presence of phenol and protein that might contribute to the stability of MnO NPs as confirmed by the negative zeta potential, −0.014 mV, for particles of 211.9 nm size with a polydispersity index of 0.29 indicating good dispersion. The study also explored the potential use of biosynthesized MnO NPs against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum since treated fungus showed a remarkable decrease in mycelial growth, thin, deformed, and lysed hyphae when viewed under the light microscope. The promising antifungal activity results provided an important perspective for using biosynthesized MnO NPs in various applications 

Keywords Nanostructure, Russelia equisetiformis, Tomato, Antifungal, TEM, SEM