Do Nano Silver Treatments Control Dry Rot Agent Inoculated Young and Aged Potato Seed Tubers?

Abstract

Storage diseases are responsible for the majority of yield losses after harvest. Dry rot,<br><br>caused by the filamentous fungus Fusarium solani is an example of an especially<br><br>important disease agent affecting potato storages around the world. The study<br><br>presented here examined the effects of nano silver as fungicides on controlling dry rot<br><br>on aged potato tubers (6-months after harvest) of the cultivars ‘Agria’, ‘Marfona’ and<br><br>‘Santé’ and also on young potato tubers (1-month after harvest) of ‘Agria’ and ‘Santé’<br><br>cvs. The results showed fungal growth on aged tubers of cv. ‘Marfona’ was significantly<br><br>reduced by applications of nano silver three days after inoculation. However, fungal<br><br>growth was markedly increased on cv. ‘Santé’ cv three hours after inoculation. These<br><br>data suggested that the cv. ‘Marfona’ is has greater tolerance, dry rot when compared to<br><br>that of cv. ‘Santé. Furthermore, the timing of nano silver applications appeared to have<br><br>an impact on dry rot control efficacy on potato tubers. Therefore, efficacy of nano silver<br><br>may depend greatly on application timing and be limited to cultivars with certain genetic<br><br>properties. Moreover, the most successful timing of the nano-silver treatment seems to<br><br>be one hour after inoculation of young tubers. Although, treatment after three hours of<br><br>inoculation reduced growth of mycelium on young tubers of both cultivars, but its<br><br>effectiveness was lower when applied one hour after inoculation. Consequently, shorter<br><br>the time of nano-silver treatment, the more effective will be the controlling spread of the<br><br>dry rot infections on tubers, during storage.