Abstract
In agriculture, abiotic stress is one of the critical issues impacting the crop productivity and yield. Such stress factors lead to the generation of reactive oxygen species, membrane damage, and other plant metabolic activities. To neutralize the harmful effects of abiotic stress, several strategies have been employed that include the utilization of nanomaterials. Nanomaterials are now gaining attention worldwide to protect plant growth against abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metals, extreme temperatures, flooding, etc. However, their behavior is significantly impacted by the dose in which they are being used in agriculture. Furthermore, the action of nanomaterials in plants under various stresses still require understanding. Hence, with this background, the present review envisages to highlight beneficial role of nanomaterials in plants, their mode of action, and their mechanism in overcoming various abiotic stresses. It also emphasizes upon antioxidant activities of different nanomaterials and their dose-dependent variability in plants’ growth under stress. Nevertheless, limitations of using nanomaterials in agriculture are also presented in this review.
Highlights
The upcoming challenges of rise in global population, decreasing arable lands, and escalating threats posed by climate change exert pressure on the need for developing new techniques and methods to increase yield potential during stressful conditions
Stressful conditions for plants arise from numerous biotic and abiotic factors, which impart stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature, and heavy metal leading to substantial modifications in plants
The results of transcriptomic analysis showed that tolerance to saline conditions had improved when seed priming with CeO2 NMs had been carried out which induced changes in expressions of gene family coding for antioxidant enzymes [80]
Summary
The upcoming challenges of rise in global population, decreasing arable lands, and escalating threats posed by climate change exert pressure on the need for developing new techniques and methods to increase yield potential during stressful conditions. Effective nutrient supply requires specific nanofertilizers or nanoencapsulated nutrients that could act as an efficient tool towards sustainable mode of agricultural practices. These nanofertilizers would be an alternative to chemical fertilizers that, in turn, improve efficiency of resource utilization, reduce soil toxicity, and usage of nanofertilizers will assist to diminish such problems [5]. Plants are sessile so they have to face extreme environmental stress conditions, such as salinity, drought, high and low temperatures, heavy metals, flooding, high and low light intensities, ultraviolet (UV), and others. Current review focuses on the concept, types, mode of metal/metalloid nanoparticles together with physiological impact of metalloid NPs on plants, their effect on growth and overcoming abiotic stress, and the underlying mechanisms
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