ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Sustainable and Intelligent Phytoprotection
Nanoengineered Polyglutamic Acid Fertilizers via Self-Assembly for Efficient Tomato Growth
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Plant Protection and Environment, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, China
- 2School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, China
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γ-Polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a promising biostimulant for enhancing crop growth and stress resistance, while its agricultural application is limited by poor leaf retention, low mobility within plants, and susceptibility to rain wash-off. This study developed one PGA nanofertilizer via a facile one-step self-assembly strategy in crude γ-PGA aqueous solution without adding salt ions to overcome these limitations. SEM images show that the obtained nanoparticles appear uniform spherical morphology and good dispersibility in water with an average hydrodynamic diameter of 182 nm confirmed by DLS. XRD and DSC patterns indicate a strong reduction in crystallinity consistent with a largely amorphous or highly disordered state. Fluorescence imaging of FITC-labeled PGA nanofertilizers (FITC@PGA) indicates systemic, vascular-localized signals consistent with bidirectional movement from absorption of both roots and leaves. Importantly, the PGA nanofertilizers exhibited superior rainfastness and leaf retention compared to crude γ-PGA. Physiological assessments showed that foliar application of PGA nanofertilizers significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, root development, and antioxidant enzyme activities compared to that of crude γ-PGA, which led to significant improvement for tomato growth and stress tolerance. It is clear shown that the nano-engineering strategy will provide a promising approach for developing efficient and eco-friendly nanofertilizer.
Keywords: γ-Polyglutamic acid, nanofertilizer, Foliar absorption, bidirectional translocation, promote tomato growth, Stress Tolerance
Received: 10 Sep 2025; Accepted: 12 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dong, Li, Yuan, Zhang, Wang, Wang, Songwei and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiangtao Dong
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