Molecular mechanism of plant-nanoparticle interactions

Research and development in the field of nanotechnology are rapidly progressing in all aspects of human life. Recently, the use of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) is being conceptualized in the field of agriculture and food industry. These ENMs are often released into the environment and pose toxicity risk due to potential uptake by crop plants. Standard developmental and physiological methods to measure phytotoxicity including seed germination, root elongation, and enzymatic assays are not sensitive enough while evaluating nanoparticle toxicity to terrestrial plant species. Also, unique properties of nanomaterials allow them to interact with biological systems. Understanding the nature of interactions between nanoparticles and plants is crucial for assessing their uptake, distribution, and toxicity associated with exposure of plants to nanoparticles. However, little progress has been made toward understanding the impact of nanomaterials at molecular level, which is an important step in evaluation of the possible mechanisms of observed effects in planta. Analysis of changes in gene expression through transcriptomics constitutes a powerful approach toward understanding the mechanism of phytotoxicity and molecular responses of plants exposed to nanoparticles. Also, global protein profiling, emerging as a new field "nanotoxicoproteomics," can be used for understanding plant responses to toxic nanomaterials. The present chapter reviews the current knowledge on phytotoxicity assessment and interactions of nanoparticles with plants at the cellular level and discusses the future aspects to improve our knowledge of this field.