Elucidating the role of silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles in mitigating the disease of the eggplant caused by <i>Phomopsis vexans</i> , <i>Ralstonia solanacearum</i> , and root-knot nematode <i>Meloidogyne incognita</i>
M. Rizwan Khan, Zaki A. Siddiqui, Aiman Parveen, Azmat Ali Khan, Il Soo Moon, Mahboob Alam
Abstract
Abstract Nanoparticles (NPs) have a critical function in mitigating the disease of fruits and vegetables. In the present investigation, the effects of three levels of concentrations (0.05, 0.10, and 0.20 mg/mL) of titanium dioxide NPs (TiO 2 -NPs) and silicon dioxide NPs (SiO 2 -NPs) were investigated against fungus Phomopsis vexans , bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum , and Meloidogyne incognita (root-knot nematode). The present investigation’s findings found that the application of SiO 2 -NPs was more efficient against test pathogens in comparison to TiO 2 -NPs. The best result produced by SiO 2 -NPs against pathogenic strain was used in the molecular docking investigation with the protein of R. solanacearum to better understand the interaction of active amino acids with SiO 2 -NPs. The obtained results revealed that the administration of 0.20 mg/mL foliar spray of SiO 2 -NPs in plants with M. incognita improves up to 37.92% of shoot dry weight and increases 70.42% of chlorophyll content. P. vexans growth was suppressed by 41.2% with 0.62 mm of inhibition zone when SiO 2 -NPs were given at a dosage of 0.20 mg/mL. The reductions in egg hatching and M. incognita (J 2 ) mortality were greater in SiO 2 -NPs than in TiO 2 -NPs. The results of scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the application of both NPs harmed test pathogens. The confocal study also showed the penetration of NPs among test pathogens.