Zinc sulfide nano aqua formulation as antifungal nanopriming agent against phytopathogens of paddy seeds: in silico, in vitro and seed treatment studies

Topologically Zn2+ hybridized ZnS nanospheres (Zn2+/nZnS) efficiently restrained the infection of Fusarium verticillioides in rice seeds by hyphal disorganization and nutritional modulation

“…66 Our previous studies reported the non-hepatotoxic and biodegradable nature of an aqua-dispersed zinc sulfide nanoformulation with acute oral toxicity and lethal dose (LD 50 ) of 2.1314 kg mol −1 and 2.2807 mol kg −1 , respectively. 28 The toxicity and teratogenic effects of ZnS NPs on chick embryo and fibroblastic cells were reported to be above the threshold concentration of 32.47 mg mL −1 and mammalian toxicity of 1460 μM. 67 In the present experiment, the applied concentrations of ZnS NPs in the seedling biocompatibility assay were 100 times lower than the mentioned values in a confined environment, which are expected to be safe.…”

“…The synthesis of the zinc sulfide nanoparticles (ZnS NPs) and their topological charging in aqueous media were performed according to the reported methodology by Khepar et al (2022), with some modifications. 28,29 Metal sulfide nanospheres cannot be surface charged by the adsorption of acidic H + ions given that sulfide is pH sensitive and decomposes in acidic solutions. 30 The positive/negative charge was topologically created on the synthesized nZnS via the in situ adsorption of Zn 2+ and S 2− on nZnS in different molar ratios.…”

“…The bio-compatibility assay was performed using the rolled paper towel method, where the primed seeds were allowed to germinate in germination paper in an incubation chamber maintained at 25 ± 1 °C. 28 After 14 days of incubation, the seed data for disease parameters (seed rot and seedling blight) and seed quality parameters (germination (%), root length (cm), shoot length (cm), dry weight (g) and vigor index) were recorded. 15 The results were compared with carbendazim, zinc acetate and hydroprimed seeds.…”

“…In vitro antimycotic potential F. verticillioides, which causes seed-borne disease in rice, was isolated from infested rice seeds using the standard blotter method for the detection of seed borne pathogens and identified by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and morphological techniques. 15,28,31,32 The F. verticillioides culture was grown in potato dextrose agar (PDA) slants at 25 ± 1 °C for seven days and preserved at 4 °C for further experiments.…”

“…The surface-charged ZnS NPs (ZnS©-1 to 10) at different concentrations (10 to 100 μg mL −1 ) were screened against F. verticillioides by following the poisoned food technique. 28 Carbendazim was used as the standard fungicide and untreated PDA petri plates served as the control. The nanoparticle-treated, carbendazim-treated and untreated (control) PDA plates were incubated at 25 ± 1 °C.…”