Dual Role of Copper Nanoparticles in Bacterial Leaf Blight-Infected Rice: A Therapeutic and Metabolic Approach

Nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most advanced technologies for combating the increased resistance of agriculture pests to current remedies. We report copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) as an efficient antibacterial agent against Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo) causing bacterial leaf blight (BLB) in rice. CuNPs had an efficient antibacterial effect on Xoo in infected rice seedlings. CuNPs also induced oxidative stress in the seedlings. The net growth and photosynthetic activity of rice seedlings increased upon CuNP treatment by the hormetic effect. CuNPs showed antibacterial activity comparable to that of commercial pesticides (Bordeaux mixture) and antibiotics (streptomycin sulfate). Overall, our work shed light on the fate of the CuNPs in the plant’s metabolic cycle in addition to its activity on BLB and set a benchmark for its commercialization. To the best of our knowledge, such dual investigation is much unexplored to date with any other NP on BLB and rice.