Trends in Nanotechnology and Its Potentialities to Control Plant Pathogenic Fungi: A Review

Abstract

Approximately 15–18% of crops losses occur as a result of animal pests, while weeds and microbial diseases cause 34 and 16% losses, respectively. Fungal pathogens cause about 70–80% losses in yield. The present strategies for plant disease control depend transcendently on agrochemicals that cause negative effects on the environment and humans. Nanotechnology can help by reducing the negative impact of the fungicides, such as enhancing the solubility of low water-soluble fungicides, increasing the shelf-life, and reducing toxicity, in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. Despite many advantages of the utilization of nanoparticles, very few nanoparticle-based products have so far been produced in commercial quantities for agricultural purposes. The shortage of commercial uses may be associated with many factors, for example, a lack of pest crop host systems usage and the insufficient number of field trials. In some areas, nanotechnology has been advanced, and the best way to be in touch with the advances in nanotechnology in agriculture is to understand the major aspect of the research and to address the scientific gaps in order to facilitate the development which can provide a rationale of different nanoproducts in commercial quantity. In this review, we, therefore, described the properties and synthesis of nanoparticles, their utilization for plant pathogenic fungal disease control (either in the form of (a) nanoparticles alone, that act as a protectant or (b) in the form of a nanocarrier for different fungicides), nano-formulations of agro-nanofungicides, Zataria multiflora, and ginger essential oils to control plant pathogenic fungi, as well as the biosafety and limitations of the nanoparticles applications.

Evaluating the Antibacterial Activity and Mode of Action of Thymol-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles Against Plant Bacterial Pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

“…Similar MTT studies have been reported for both chitosan and thymol individually, where they exhibited cytotoxicity against various bacterial species ( Aksoy and Beck, 2017;Khan et al, 2017). It is known that low molecular weight chitosan, apart from exhibiting extracellular antimicrobial activity, can enter cells and disrupt RNA, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial function (Kutawa et al, 2021). Similarly, the charged groups from thymol enter the cell membrane modifying the membrane composition, which causes rupturing of mitochondria leading to cell death (Singh et al, 2017).…”

“…In the recent past, the agriculture sector has witnessed an expeditious development of nano-pesticides as an alternative to chemical pesticides where the efficacy of biocontrol agents is enhanced by converting them into nanoparticles or conjugating them with nanoparticles with reduced toxicity and controllable composition. Furthermore, these formulations can also be used to increase the shelf life of agricultural produce (Ishkeh et al, 2021;Kutawa et al, 2021;Zobir et al, 2021).…”

“…It can be used as a carrier to attach or encapsulate active reagents to develop agricultural formulations. Chitosan is a natural antimicrobial agent and found effective against a variety of bacteria and fungus (Meng et al, 2020;Kutawa et al, 2021). However, its efficacy is highly dependent on the type of microorganisms.…”

Antifungal Activities of Pure and ZnO-Encapsulated Essential Oil of Zataria multiflora on Alternaria solani as the Pathogenic Agent of Tomato Early Blight Disease

“…Nanomaterials protect EOs against interactions with other compounds and increase the stability of volatile compounds and antimicrobial properties through cell adsorption ( Donsì et al, 2011 ). Also, nanoparticles can lead to effective delivery and valid release in soil-borne disease control and management ( Kutawa et al, 2021 ).…”

Metal Nanoparticles as Novel Antifungal Agents for Sustainable Agriculture: Current Advances and Future Directions

“…Different nanomaterials have shown excellent antifungal activities; therefore, they are considered a good alternative to control phytopathogenic fungi [35][36][37][38]. Specifically, metal nanoparticles have been widely studied; consequently, they have been tested and led to significant results due to their excellent antifungal properties [39].…”