Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
tion, which supports the hypothesis for the induction of new pores or enlargement
of seed coat, pores upon interaction with these nanostructures. These findings open
the wide possibilities of using carbon nanomaterials as delivery vehicles of various
chemicals and desired molecules to seeds and/or plant itself, to protect them from
various diseases and pest attack.
3.5 Magnetic Nanoparticles
The scope of magnetic nanoparticles for site-targeted delivery of drugs, has been
exploited widely in biomedicine for the treatment of various diseases (Mornet et al.
2004
; Jurgons et al.
2006
). However, in plant biology, such an application is still in
its budding stage. Magnetic-based nanomaterials could be utilized for site-targeted
delivery of systemic plant protection chemicals for the treatment of diseases that
affect only specific regions of plants. If the movement of internalized magnetic
nanomaterials could be tracked externally using high power external magnets, then
it would be possible to direct them to specific areas where the chemicals need to
be released. The advantage of using carbon-based nanomaterials (such as SWCNTs
and MWCNTs) functionalized with magnetic nanoparticles is that the internal space
allows filling of suitable plant protecting chemicals and the functionalized mag-
netic nanoparticles allow external control of the movement of nanocarriers inside
the plant system. The magnetic nanoparticles should also be externally functional-
ized for making them more biocompatible. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles
inside the plant system, might cause changes in various metabolic and enzymat-
ic functions of plants. Even though some works have already reported regarding
changes in assimilatory pigment and nucleic acid levels (Racuciu et al. 2007; Ra-
cuciu et al.
2009
), more research is needed to understand the overall physiological
and metabolic changes that occur in plants on the uptake of magnetic nanoparticles.
4 Nanoparticles as Transgene Vehicles for Developing
Transgenic Plants with Novel Properties
The major challenge for plant gene delivery is the presence of cell wall. The main
constraints associated with conventional gene transfer methods in plants such as
Agrobacterium
-mediated gene transfer, electroporation, PEG-mediated gene trans-
fer, particle gun bombardment, etc., are high cost, labor extensiveness and signifi-
cant perturbation to the growth of cells. Hence, it is high time to utilize novel de-
livery systems for the development of successful transformants. Nanotechnology
has shown its ability in modifying the genetic constitution of plants by introduc-
ing novel genes, thus resulting in crop improvement. Besides the use of different
nanoparticle formulations for controlling the incidence of various plant diseases,
