Effect of Cold Plasma on Alternaria Brassicicola Morphology and Seed Germinations

Hybrid cold plasma were utilized to degrade Alternaria brassicicola (A. brassicicola), known as a fungal necrotrophic plant pathogen. This work demonstrates that cold plasma is a promising method for sterilizing the seeds infected by seed-borne pathogens, especially the severe pathogen Alternaria. In vitro studies revealed a broken A. brassicicola spore visualized under the bright field microscope. We found that after 15 mins of plasma treatment, the ~50 % of A. brassicicola spore appeared in the image frame become leak or broken. Moreover, we demonstrate the feasibility of using nonthermal streamer plasma to improve the wettability and to enhance seed germination percentage of cabbage and rat-tail radish seeds.