Abstract
This mini-review aims at gaining knowledge on basic aspects of plant nanotechnology. While in recent years the enormous progress of nanotechnology in biomedical sciences has revolutionized therapeutic and diagnostic approaches, the comprehension of nanoparticle-plant interactions, including uptake, mobilization and accumulation, is still in its infancy. Deeper studies are needed to establish the impact of nanomaterials (NMs) on plant growth and agro-ecosystems and to develop smart nanotechnology applications in crop improvement. Herein we provide a short overview of NMs employed in plant science and concisely describe key NM-plant interactions in terms of uptake, mobilization mechanisms, and biological effects. The major current applications in plants are reviewed also discussing the potential use of polymeric soft NMs which may open new and safer opportunities for smart delivery of biomolecules and for new strategies in plant genetic engineering, with the final aim to enhance plant defense and/or stimulate plant growth and development and, ultimately, crop production. Finally, we envisage that multidisciplinary collaborative approaches will be central to fill the knowledge gap in plant nanotechnology and push toward the use of NMs in agriculture and, more in general, in plant science research.
Highlights
Nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties and provide versatile scaffolds for functionalization with biomolecules
It is reasonable to argue that the potentiality and the benefits of the application of NMs in plant sciences and agriculture are still not fully exploited, due to some bottlenecks, which can be briefly summarized as follows: (i) the need to design and synthesis safe NMs which do not interfere negatively with plant growth and development (Sabo-Attwood et al, 2012); (ii) the lack
By means of X-ray computed nanotomography and enhanced dark-field microscopy combined with hyperspectral imaging, have demonstrated that root border cells and associated mucilage tend to trap gold NPs irrespective of particle charge, while negatively charged NPs are not sequestered by the mucilage of Arabidopsis thaliana root cap and translocate directly into the root tissue (Avellan et al, 2017)
Summary
Nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties and provide versatile scaffolds for functionalization with biomolecules. Certain NMs such as gold and magnetic nanoparticles as well as polymeric or hybrid NMs have shown to respond to external stimuli achieving a spatiotemporal controlled release of macromolecules. For these reasons, over the last two decades, engineered nanomaterials have been successfully tested and applied in medicine and pharmacology, especially for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes (Bruchez et al, 1998; Tang et al, 2006; Perrault et al, 2009). The field of nanotechnology is gaining an increased interest in plant science, especially for the application of nanomaterials (NMs) as vehicles of agrochemicals or biomolecules in plants, and the great potential to enhance crop productivity (Khan et al, 2017). Advances in Plant Nanotechnology of knowledge on the exact mechanisms of NMs uptake and mobilization in plants (Ranjan et al, 2017) and, (iii) the lack of multidisciplinary approaches, necessary for the design and the implementation of nanotechnology applications in plants
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