Abstract
Life in our planet is highly dependent on plants as they are the primary source of food, regulators of the atmosphere, and providers of a variety of materials. In this work, we review the progress on bioelectronic devices for plants and biohybrid systems based on plants, therefore discussing advancements that view plants either from a biological or a technological perspective, respectively. We give an overview on wearable and implantable bioelectronic devices for monitoring and modulating plant physiology that can be used as tools in basic plant science or find application in agriculture. Furthermore, we discuss plant-wearable devices for monitoring a plant’s microenvironment that will enable optimization of growth conditions. The review then covers plant biohybrid systems where plants are an integral part of devices or are converted to devices upon functionalization with smart materials, including self-organized electronics, plant nanobionics, and energy applications. The review focuses on advancements based on organic electronic and carbon-based materials and discusses opportunities, challenges, as well as future steps.
Highlights
Life in our planet is highly dependent on plants as they are the primary source of food, regulators of the atmosphere, and providers of a variety of materials
Bioelectronic devices based on organic or carbon materials can be fabricated with low-cost mass production approaches such as screen printing that is advantageous for large-scale applications.[11−14]
The density of cell walls can be tuned dynamically, loosening for cell elongation and densifying for protection from elicitors. Plants grow throughout their lives; growth is initiated in meristems that consist of stem cells able to differentiate into the various cells
Summary
We give a very brief introduction to plant anatomy (Figure 2), refreshing the readers’ memory of basic plant functions and introducing terminology that will aid the discussion of the various technologies and applications . The vascular system forms a microfluidic network that is distributed throughout the plant and consists of the xylem and phloem tissue. The sugars produced by photosynthesis are distributed to the plant via the phloem vascular tissue to cover the energy demands, growth, and development, while any excess is stored in the form of starch. The phloem can distribute sugars from source to sink tissues Another unique feature of plant cells is their cell wall that ensures mechanical stability to the plant and ability to sustain major water loss without dying. The density of cell walls can be tuned dynamically, loosening for cell elongation and densifying for protection from elicitors Plants grow throughout their lives; growth is initiated in meristems that consist of stem cells able to differentiate into the various cells. In the Plants and Electricity section, we give a brief overview of the current understanding of electrical signaling in plants
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