## 5 Results  
Five pathogenic fungi associated with corn leaf blight disease were isolated. The fungi were identified morphologically (Figure 4) and molecularly by using PCR-ITS amplification of the rRNA gene. The blast search on the NCBI was identified as AD1 _Bipolaris zeicola strain 1_, AD6 _Phoma herbarum strain 1_, AH1 _Epicoccum nigrum_, BD5 _Alternaria alternata strain 2_ and BD2 _Fusarium brachygibosum_ (Table 1). Figure 3: (**a**) EDS spectrum of bismuth sulphide showing the presence of bismuth and sulphur only in the as-prepared nanoparticles and (**b**) TEM spectrum of bismuth sulphide showing a nanorod internal morphology. Sequences of the isolated fungal strains were aligned with those earlier documented on the NCBI platform. The phylogenetic relationship tree of the isolates revealed AD6 clustered into a distinct, well-supported clade with _Phoma herbarum_ MT420621, AH1 clustered with _Epicoccum nigrum_ MT582797, BD2 with _Fusarium brachygibbsum_ KY024400, and BD5A with _Alternaria alternata_ MN249500, while AD1 clustered with a clade supported by _Bipolaris_ _zeicola_ MT841439 (Figure 5). Figure 4: Front and back view of the fungal isolates (**a**) Bioplaris zeicola, (**b**) Phoma herbarum, (**c**) Epicoccum nigrum, (**d**) Alternaria alternata, (**e**) Fusarium brachygibbsum. Figure 5: The phylogenetic relationships between the isolated pathogenic fungi and selected database relatives on the NCBI generated through transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA genes, analysed via [PERSON]’s two-parameter models. Bootstrap support values higher than 50% from 1000 replicates are shown at the nodes. _Bipolaris zae_ (MT079295) was used as the out-group. The percentage inhibition of the Bismuth sulphide nanoparticles against the evaluated fungi showed _Phoma herbarum_ (35.72%), _Bipolaris zeicola_ (31.58%) and _Alternaria alternata_ (28.86%) were the most significant (\(p<0.05\)) at 5 mg/mL concentration. _Alternaria alternata_ (37.56%) produced the most significant result at 10 mg/mL, while 2 fungi, _Phoma herbarum_ (39.71%) and _A. alternata_ (35.35%), recorded the most inhibition at 15 mg/mL. Similarly, results obtained from the graphitic carbon nitride nanoparticles showed its effectiveness against _Phoma herbarum_ at 5 mg/mL (45%) and at 10 mg/mL (65.64%), while _P. herbarum_ (41.03%) and _A. alternata_ (34.33%) showed the most significant inhibition at 15 mg/mL, a performance that was followed by _Fusarium brachgibosum_ and _Bipolaris zeicola_ at a similar level of significance (\(p>0.05\)) (Table 2). The pooled effect of the two nanoparticle types against the tested fungi showed _Phoma herbarum_ (40.36%, 43.37% and 40.37%), followed by _Alternaria alternata_ (28.74%, 28.99%, and 34.84%) and _Bipolaris zeicola_ (22.40%, 21.96% and 17.75%) as the most significantly inhibited fungi across the concentration levels, respectively (Table 3). _Phoma herbarium > A. alternata > B. zeicola > F. brachygibosum > E. nigrum_ was the order of fungal inhibition by the pooled effect of the nanoparticles at all the concentration levels observed (Figure 6). Bi\({}_{2}\)S\({}_{3}\) nanoparticles showed a higher percentage inhibition (22.95%) than gC\({}_{3}\)N\({}_{4}\) nanoparticles at 5 mg/mL. However, gC\({}_{3}\)N\({}_{4}\) nanoparticles recorded better performances (25.43% and 24.46%) at 10 mg/mL and 15 mg/mL concentrations, respectively (Figure 7).