The global wide threatening problem is the pollution, especially water and soil pollution are biggest threats to our people. The pollution not only damages the resources but also enters the ecosystem and impairs our health. The pollution disfigures the fertility of the soil and contaminates the groundwater table which is the most reliable source of all living organisms. Due to urbanization of people and scarcity of the water resources, the people rely on the groundwater for the domestic and drinking needs. Earlier researches include the bioremediation and physico-chemical mechanisms in removal of toxic/heavy metals from water but still faced several post-treatment issues. The advancement in science and technology paved a path as nanotechnology to overcome these problems. In this current investigation, the CuO nanoparticles (CuONPs) and ZnO nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were synthesized from endophytic fungal strain and characterized which were previously reported. The groundwater samples were collected near, in, and around of the garbage-dump site of Vellalore-Kurichi village, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India; three areas were selected, and water samples were collected. The basic physico-chemical parameters such as BOD, COD, TDS, hardness, pH, chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, and heavy metal(s) of the collected samples were analyzed. The adsorption studies were initiated with three different concentrations of CuONPs and ZnONPs in 100 mL of polluted groundwater samples, and the kinetics was started with 0th min and extended till 180 min. The adsorption rate increased with the increase in time; the CuONPs and ZnONPs adsorbed the few pollutants that also included arsenic (V) effectively. The nanoremediated samples were further taken to determine the effectiveness in aiding the plant growth promotion, and this was executed in Trigonella sp. plants. The plants were grown well which was compared to the control plants, and the phytochemical assessment was carried out. The presence of phytochemicals of the plants grown in nanoremediated samples was similar to that of control plants. Further, the CuONPs and ZnONPs have the ability in remediating the pollutants/contaminants in the groundwater.

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) in agriculture has increased remarkably in recent years as a promising strategy for sustainable crop protection. Strategies involving the foliar use of NPs can significantly improve plant resistance to soilborne fungal diseases. NPs have been shown to be transported from leaves to roots, with potential release to the rhizosphere, although the precise mechanisms for reduced infection and damage from soilborne pathogens are complex, likely varying with disease system, nanoparticle type, and growth conditions. In this study, we investigated 100 ppm of CuO NPs of different sizes [sCuO NPs, 20-50 nm and lCuO NPs, 100 nm], along with 200 ppm of CuSO4, for potential ability to inhibit Fusarium graminearum PH-1 in an in vitro leaf bioassay, as well as an in vivo assay on wheat leaves. Three days after treatment, the Cu salt and NPs (20-50 nm) both restricted fungal growth on wheat leaves in vitro. Laser scanning confocal microscopic observations revealed that the CuO NPs (20-50 nm) inhibited F. graminearum growth by direct effects on the hyphae, spores, and conidial spore germination. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were significantly (p <= 0.05) increased by 214.84 and 191.55 J/cm2 in the hyphae and conidia when treated with CuO NPs (20-50 nm), respectively; intracellular ROS content also increased with the treatment of the CuO NPs (100 nm), although inhibition on the conidial spore germination was limited. CuO NPs also compressed the membrane, which was different than the CuO ions-induced ROS caused cell membrane damage and apoptosis. We observed the smaller NP size (20-50 nm) had greater toxicity than the larger size (100 nm). The study demonstrates that size-dependent CuO NPs offer a promising approach for sustainable crop protection, with multiple mechanisms of pathogen control that may provide greater versatility than conventional CuO products. These findings have important implications for developing more effective and environmentally sustainable strategies to combat fungal diseases in agricultural systems, particularly for managing Fusarium head blight in wheat production.