Potential of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in plant disease diagnostics and management: Recent advances and challenges

Abstract

Plant diseases caused by phytopathogens are a severe threat to global food production. Management of plant diseases mostly rely on the application of pesticides which have several adverse effects on the ecosystem. Innovative and high-performance diagnostic tools are useful for the early detection of phytopathogens. Emerging role of metal and metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs) in plant disease diagnostics to combat crop diseases has been described. These NPs constitute new weapons against plant pathogens and facilitate the early diagnosis/management of crop diseases specifically in resource-poor conditions. The interactions between NPs, phytopathogens and plants showed great diversity and multiplicity which reduces chances of the development of resistant pathogen strains. The present article discusses the available literature as well as challenges and research gaps that are essential in the successful utilization of metal and metal oxide NPs for precise and timely detection and management of plant diseases.