Application of Silver Nanoparticles to Control In vitro Microbial Contamination and Recovery of the Sugar Beet Doubled Haploid Plantlets

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of nanosilver colloid as a new antimicrobial agent against Erwinia in tissue culture of sugar beet for the recovery of the contaminated doubled haploid plantlets. The nanosilver colloidal solution of 4000 ppm was diluted in different concentrations (0, 50, 75, 100 and 125 ppm) and was added to the solid MS medium. In a factorial experiment, sample pre-washing (before subculture) with nanosilver solution to one–half of the plantlets was used. There were 10 treatment combinations replicated 5 times each. Number of the recovered plantlets and new shoots after 30 days were analyzed by means of analysis of variance technique based on a completely randomized design. Both factors were found to be significant. Results showed that nanosilver’s behavior was different in liquid versus solid medium and affected by medium formulation. It was also indicated that the nanosilver did not remove completely bacteria from plantlets, even in as high as 120 ppm concentration, but drastically prevented bacterial growth and multiplication. A linear increase parallel to the nanosilver concentration occurred in the rate of recovery of the contaminated doubled haploid plantlets. Plantlets decay process was stopped in 125 ppm nanosilver concentration and effective recovery of them in in vitro condition occurred in the rate of 100%. Based on the results, it seems that the effectiveness of nanosilver on plantlet recovery is not just due to it’s antibacterial property, so it’s effect on the medium properties and biochemical processes need to be studied.