Hazardous gases (CO, NO(x), CH(4) and C(3)H(8)) released from CO(2) fertilizer unit lead to oxidative damage and degrades photosynthesis in strawberry plants

CO(2) boilers/direct heating systems used in greenhouses often lead to incomplete combustion, which results in the formation of hazardous gases, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitroxide (NO(X)) and other hydrocarbons. In this study, strawberry plants that were grown on rockwool cubes were transferred to airtight bottles and treated with CO, NO(X), CH(4) and C(3)H(8) gases for 1–48 hours. Oxidative damage due to hazardous gases was observed, as indicated by H(2)O(2) and [Formula: see text] determination. Photosynthetic pigments were reduced, and stomatal guard cells were damaged and remained closed compared to the control. The activity of other photosynthetic parameters was negatively related to hazardous gases. Reduction in the expression of multiprotein complexes was highly observed under hazardous gas treatments. This study highlighted that hazardous gases (CO, NO(X), CH(4) and C(3)H(8)) emitted due to incomplete combustion of CO(2) fertilization units/or direct heating systems resulted in the formation of ROS in shoots and limited photosynthetic metabolism. We predicted that major steps must be incorporated to improve the efficiency of CO(2) boiler/heating systems to decrease the emission of these hazardous gases and other hydrocarbons and to reduce the observed risks that are key to the reduction of crops.