Iron-Carbon Nanofibers Coated with Acylated Homoserine Lactone Enhance Plant Growth and Suppress Fusarium Wilt Disease in Cicer Arietinum by Modulating Soil Microbiome

The agricultural soil microbiome plays a key role in crop productivity, nutritional quality, and suppressing soil-borne plant pathogens. In the current study, a nanocomposite biofertilizer based on acylated homoserine-coated iron-carbon nanofibers is developed that potentially improves the soil rhizomicrobiome. The 16S RNA-based metagenome sequencing of soil bacteria shows that the abundance of specific bacterial genera (e.g., Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas) is potentially improved in the nanocomposite (1 g/kg)-treated plant-soil system after 30 days. As a result, the prepared nanocomposite promotes growth, nutritional quality, and suppresses the fungal infection (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cicero) in chickpea plants. In addition, the data show an increased total nitrogen content in nanocomposite-amended soil collected after 30 days of plant growth, which is the indicator of an increase in soil nitrogen fixation potential. Commonly, nitrogen content in soil is maintained by rhizobacteria; therefore, the increased soil nitrogen content is linked to the improved soil microbiome. In the plant growth experiment, a statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase is observed in the wet biomass, root length, shoot length, and chlorophyll-protein contents of the plants. The developed nanocomposite biofertilizer in this study has novel implications in sustainable agriculture production.