Manganese sulfide nanospheres as mycocidal material and priming agent for fungi‐infested rice seeds

Manganese sulfide nanospheres (MnS-NSs) prepared in situviasonochemical process were characterized to investigate the effect of nanoscale MnS on antifungal potential against mycopathogens of riceviz.Fusarium verticillioides,Drechslera oryzaeandCurvularia lunata. MnS-NSs dispersed in aqueous medium resulted in significant inhibition of growth of all the test fungi (ED50 <= 18 mu g/ml) at concentration much lower than standard commercial fungicides (captan and carbendazim with ED50 >= 230 mu g/ml) against respective fungi. The maximum per cent inhibition (98 +/- 1.4) was recorded againstC. lunatawith a minimum ED(50)value of 14 mu g/ml, followed byD. oryzaeandF. verticillioideswith ED(50)values of 17 and 18 mu g/ml, respectively. Nanopriming of rice seeds with MnS-NSs at 35 mu g/ml for 8 hr resulted in significant reduction in seed rot (76%) and seedling blight (89.13%) along with enhancement in percent germination, root length, shoot length, dry weight and vigour index of seedlings by 33.7%, 55%, 66.3%, 85.3% and 89.3%, respectively, compared with control. Hydropriming of seeds was found to control the seed health parameters less effectively than nanopriming.