Cold Plasma Treatment of Sunflower Seeds Modulates Plant-Associated Microbiome and Stimulates Root and Lateral Organ Growth

Abstract

Cold atmospheric pressure (CP) plasma irradiation of seeds has been shown to promote plant growth, but the molecular basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. In our study, optimum irradiation of common sunflower seeds using a dielectric barrier discharge CP device stimulated growth of sunflower lateral organs and roots by 9-14% compared to the control. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the structure of plant-associated bacterial assembly was greatly modified upon CP treatment and could be attributed to the antimicrobial effect of CP-generated reactive species. The treatment resulted in the domination of spore forming Mycobacterium sp. in the above-ground tissues of the seedlings. While the overall bacterial diversity in the roots was barely affected, the CP-induced shift in microbial composition is the likely basis for the observed seedling root growth stimulation and the long-term effect on lateral organ growth and could be mediated by increase in water uptake and/or direct root signaling. Low amplitude protein abundance differences were detected in the roots of the emerging seedlings that are characteristic to low intensity stress stimuli response and could be linked to the changes in plant-associated microbiome upon CP treatment.

Changes in Agricultural Performance of Common Buckwheat Induced by Seed Treatment with Cold Plasma and Electromagnetic Field

“…Seed treatments with CP and EMF are further followed by changes in DNA methylation [61], protein expression and numerous enzymatic activities in tissues of growing seedlings [25,34] including proteins that are important for photosynthetic activity and antioxidant defense. Substantial changes in plant associated microbiome due to sunflower seed treatment with CP have been reported [62]. Numerous findings indicate that secondary metabolism is activated in plants growing from the CP-or EMF-treated seeds [30,36,45,63], and that may lead to increased plant fitness and improved growth due to stimulated communication with beneficial microorganisms [59,64].…”

The Impact of Air or Nitrogen Non-Thermal Plasma on Variations of Natural Bioactive Compounds in Djulis (Chenopodium formosanum Koidz.) Seed and the Potential Effects for Human Health

“…Plasma techniques have been applied for agricultural purposes, especially for the growth of vegetation, for a decade. The positive impact of NTP treatment on the acceleration of germination and improvement of root, shoot, and young seedling growth has been demonstrated in previous studies [8,9,[12][13][14].…”

“…Although treatment with CAP and NTP is common in agricultural applications, most seed studies have concentrated on the notably positive improvements in seed germination, shoot and root growth, and the growth of young seedlings after CAP or NTP treatment [8,9,26,27]. Previous reports referred to the factors influencing germination in relation to different types of plasma (e.g., the atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier charge (DBD) and low-pressure radiofrequency (RF) plasma) and the plasma working gases (e.g., air, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon) [8,25,27].…”

“…Several reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS) are created in NTP [4]. In food technology, NTP, including CAP, is an innovative technique used to improve the inactivation of pathogens (e.g., Salmonella typhimurium) [5] or spoilage organisms (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) [3], parasite control [6], seed germination [7,8], and acceleration of seed growth [8,9]. Compared with traditional food techniques, NTP may offer several advantages, including that it can be used at room temperature in a dry environment; is a fast, safe treatment; and there are no chemical residues developed under operating conditions.…”

16S Metagenomics investigation of Bacterial diversity and prediction of its functionalities in Moroccan phosphate mine ecosystem.

“…They developed a novel analytical pipeline with the V4 region enabled the best resolution of bacterial communities pro ling up to both family and genus levels. In a recent study, Tamošiūnė et al [29] assessed the effect of cold Plasma treatment on the plant-associated Microbiome using the Ion 16S TM metagenomics kit which seems to be the rst study applying this kit on plantassociated microorganisms. However in this study, authors did not give indication related to the best 16S rRNA hypervariable region that gives a robust identi cation and classi cation of taxa.…”