Nanoantimicrobials for Plant Pathogens Control: Potential Applications and Mechanistic Aspects

Abstract

The advances of nanotechnology in the field of plant science have been steadily making its unique mark as a recent technology to reckon with. Recently, the use of engineered nanomaterials provides great opportunities in plant disease control. The unique size, shape, structure, and surface characteristics of those nanomaterials result in novel physicochemical and biological properties different from their corresponding bulk counterparts. In medicine, the antimicrobial, anticancer, and antiviral properties of different nanomaterial types have been reported. However, despite this financial interest, very few studies have been reported demonstrating the beneficial effect of using those nanomaterials as antimicrobial and antiviral agents against plant pathogens. Recently, scientists strongly suggested that antimicrobial nanomaterials are able to unlock the restrictions experienced by conventional pesticides and other antimicrobial agents. Consequently, in this chapter we focus on demonstrating a variety of nanomaterials being utilized in plant disease management as antimicrobial and antiviral agents with description of their proposed mechanisms of action. In parallel to their merits, the demerits were also highlighted and the possibility of large-scale adaptability for them by integrating into present practices, thus avoiding crop loss.