Advancement in Nanodiagnostic for Plant Pathogen Detection

Abstract

Nanotechnology refers to a nanoscale innovation, which has promising applications in everyday life. The word nanotechnology is generally used when referring to materials with the size of 0.1 to 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology is a multi-displinary science involving knowledge fro biology, chemistry, physics and other disciplines. The nanoparticles have small size, large surface area and high reactivity. These properties of nanoparticles revolutionized the agriculture researches. Rapid disease detection, targeted treatments, enhancing the ability of plants to absorb nutrients, fighting diseases caused by various viruses and pathogens are some of the research area where nanotechnology will play vital roles. Existing molecular diagnostics techniques for example PCR, ELISA, Immunofluorecence etc. can’t be used for on-site plant pathogen detection. In addition to these direct pathogen identification methods, indirect methods based on plant stress profiling and plant volatile profiling have also been used for the identification of biotic and abiotic stresses along with pathogenic diseases in crops. Though all these direct and indirect methods are quite sensitive and show specificity but the use of costly, sensitive molecular reagents and time consuming processes limits the use of these techniques. Thus there is an urgent need of developing a cost effective, fast and ultra sensitive technique for easy identification of plant pathogens. Nanotechnology and nanodiagnostic have emerged as one of the most fascinating and rapidly advancing sciences that possess the potential to revolutionize many disciplines of science, technology, medicine and agriculture. In agriculture new molecular biology tools such as nonopores are presumed to provide better disease detection, prevention and treatments in plants. Key words: nanofungficide, nanoherbicides, nanoparticles, nanopesticides