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Nanobiotechnology-based strategies for enhanced crop stress resilience

Nature Food volume 3, pages 829–836 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nanobiotechnology approaches to engineering crops with enhanced stress tolerance may be a safe and sustainable strategy to increase crop yield. Under stress conditions, cellular redox homeostasis is disturbed, resulting in the over-accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage biomolecules (lipids, proteins and DNA) and inhibit crop growth and yield. Delivering ROS-scavenging nanomaterials to plants has been shown to alleviate abiotic stress. Here we review the current state of knowledge of using ROS-scavenging nanomaterials to enhance plant stress tolerance. When present below a threshold level, ROS can mediate redox signalling and defence pathways that foster plant acclimatization against stress. We find that ROS-triggering nanomaterials, such as nanoparticulate silver and copper oxide, have the potential to be judiciously applied to crop species to stimulate the defence system, prime stress responses and subsequently increase the stress resistance of crops.

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Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of strategies of utilizing ROS-scavenging and ROS-triggering NMs to modulate ROS homeostasis for stress tolerance enhancement of plants.
Fig. 2: Schematic diagram explaining ROS generation and functions in plant cells.
Fig. 3: Scheme showing the mechanisms of using ROS-scavenging NMs to alleviate plant abiotic stress.
Fig. 4: Scheme showing the mechanisms of using ROS-triggering NMs to enhance resistance of plants to abiotic stresses.
Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of uptake pathways of ROS-modulating NMs in plants.

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Acknowledgements

L.Z. acknowledges grants from the National Science Foundation of China (21876081 and 21906081).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Lijuan Zhao & Tonghao Bai

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing National Laboratory of Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Hui Wei

  3. Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

    Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey

  4. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Arturo Keller

  5. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), New Haven, CT, USA

    Jason C. White

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  1. Lijuan Zhao
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L.Z. and J.C.W. discussed and wrote the review; T.B. assisted in reference collection and designed the figures; and H.W., J.L.G.-T. and A.K. helped with the critical review and editing.

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Correspondence to Lijuan Zhao or Jason C. White.

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Nature Food thanks Honghong Wu, Om Parkash Dhankher and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Zhao, L., Bai, T., Wei, H. et al. Nanobiotechnology-based strategies for enhanced crop stress resilience. Nat Food 3, 829–836 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00596-7

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