Studies on effect of gold nanoparticles on Meloidogyne incognita and tomato plants growth and development

Plant parasitic nematodes are one of world major agricultural pest, causing in excess of 157 billion dollars in worldwide damage annually. This study has provided evidence that gold nanoparticles have great utility for management of root-knot nematodes in tomato crop. Effect of gold nanoparticles on Meloidogyne incognita J2 was remarkable under the direct exposure in water, after three hours of incubation of Meloidogyne incognita with GNPs showed the 100% mortality. The lesser survival rate of Meloidogyne incognita in soil treatment showed the strong nematicidal effect of gold nanoparticles. Subsequently, the pot experiment had shown the beneficial effects of gold nanoparticles for intensively managing the root-knot nematode. Pot experiment not only showed us that GNPs were lethal to root-knot nematodes were also induces growth of tomato plants and didn’t have any kind of negative impact on plant growth. In our study, GNPs were found to be safe and lethal to Meloidogyne incognita.