Muthukrishnan Sathiyabama

Title : Chitosan based nano particles mediated blast disease management in finger millet plants

Abstract:

Finger millet is commonly known as ragi in India, is one of the minor cereals grown extensively in various regions of Asia. Finger millet is referred as neutraceutical crop and has been perceived as a potential “super cereal” by the United States National Academies being one of the most nutritious among all the cereals. Though it is adapted to wide range of environment its production is limited due to biotic stress. Among the biotic stress blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea is the most important and devastating pathogen which reduce the yield of finger millet. This study reports the ecofriendly approach to control this pathogen using chitosan nanoparticles. Chitosan nanoparticles were synthesized using sodium tripolyphosphate. Application of chitosan nanoparticles to finger millet plants induce
reactive oxygen species and delayed the blast symptom appearance. The treated plants showed reduced disease incidence when compared to untreated control plants under green house condition. The treated plants also showed increased mineral content.

Biography:

Dr.M.Sathiyabama is a Plant Biotechnologist specialized in Molecular PlantPathology and Nanotechnology. She joined Bharathidasan University in 2005 and currentlyserving as Professor & Head, Department of Botany, Bharathidasan University,Tiruchirappalli. She is working on biopolymer based crop protection againstphytopathogens. She also works on fungal endophytes for novel bioactive compound isolation and identification. She was the recipient of INSA-DFG, INSA-CAS Visiting Scientist award to carry research at Germany and China.