Chitosan antimicrobial and eliciting properties for pest control in agriculture: a review

Abstract

In agriculture, current control of pathogens relies mainly on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. However, alternative solutions are needed due to concerns for public health, environmental protection, and development of resistant pests. Chitosan is a nontoxic, biodegradable biopolymer showing antimicrobial and plant-immunity eliciting properties. Here, we review chitosan antimicrobial activities, modes of action, and the elicitation of plant defense responses. The major points are the following: (1) Chitosan exhibits various inhibitory efficiency against bacteria, fungi, and viruses;(2) the five main modes of action of chitosan are electrostatic interactions, plasma membrane damage mechanism, chitosan-DNA/RNA interactions, metal chelation capacity of chitosan, and deposition onto the microbial surface; (3) the elicitation of plant defense responses by chitosan may be related to various pathogenesis-related proteins, defense-related enzymes, and secondary metabolites accumulation, as well as the complex signal transduction network. The facing problems and strategies for antimicrobial mechanism research and agricultural application of chitosan are also discussed.

Chitosan nanoparticle based delivery systems for sustainable agriculture

“…There have been several reports describing the use of chitosan for biotic and abiotic stress management in agriculture [73,[81][82][83][84][85]. Table 3 lists some of the applications of chitosan in crop production and protection.…”

“…Since the 1980s, the study of chitosan has been shift from a general sewage treatment agent to plant growth regulator, soil conditioner, vegetables and fruits antistaling agent, and seed coating agent, especially in the crop disease management. Several studies showed that chitosan is not only an antimicrobial agent but also an effective elicitor of plant systemic acquired resistance to pathogens [73,82,84,131]. This polymer has been reported to be the enhancer and regulator of plant growth, development and yield [85,132,133].…”

Insights into epidemiology and control of diseases of annual plants caused by the Pseudomonas syringae species complex

“…It is likely that the expression of genes related to basal defense of tomato was induced in plants supplied with Si and inoculated with bacteria. Another product of increasing use is chitosan, a nontoxic, biodegradable biopolymer with antimicrobial and plantimmunity eliciting properties (Xing et al 2014). Chitosan is applied against a range of plant pathogens including strains in the Pssc.…”

Zein‐based anti‐browning cling wraps for fresh‐cut apple slices

“…Chitosan, the second most abundant polysaccharide, is known for its film-forming property, biodegradability, biocompatibility, antimicrobial property and importantly, for its mechanical properties, as they show similarity to medium chain commercial polymers (Xing et al, 2015). Recently, chitosan-based active packaging films incorporated with laponite immobilised silver nanoparticles have been developed for extending the storage life of litchi (Wu et al, 2018).…”