Sunlight-Induced Synthesis of Non-Target Biosafety Silver Nanoparticles for the Control of Rice Bacterial Diseases

Silver is an important and efficient bactericide. Nanoscale silver has a large specific surface area, high target adhesion, strong permeability and high bactericidal activity. At present, the control of plant bacterial diseases is difficult, and the resistance of plant bacterial pathogens develops rapidly. Silver nanoparticles are expected to become a new generation of agrochemical to control plant bacterial diseases. In this study, a simple and green natural sunlight-induced method was used to prepare carboxymethylcellulose sodium-stabilized silver nanoparticles (CMC-SNs) with a particle size of around 13.53 ± 4.72 nm. CMC-SNs were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-vis spectroscopy and found to be spherical and evenly dispersed. The bacteriostatic activity of the CMC-SNs toward Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was tested. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CMC-SNs to Xoo was 1 mg/L, and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was 2 mg/L. In addition, the antibacterial mechanism was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), which confirmed that the CMC-SNs had high antibacterial activity. In order to verify its impact on the environment, we conducted an acute toxicity test on zebrafish and found that Half lethal concentration (LC₅₀) > 100 mg/L in zebrafish, or no acute toxicity. The ability of CMC-SNs to control rice bacterial blight was verified by a pot experiment.