Nanomaterials for Wheat Stress Tolerance: Trade-Off on Underlying Mechanisms and Latest Breakthroughs Under Changing Climate

Abstract

Abiotic and biotic stress is a staid confront for nourishing global agriculture yields and food supply. Nanoparticles (NPs) are thought to be a key tool for raising agricultural yields in present drastic environmental variations. NPs' application improves amalgamation of the hormones, osmoprotectants, bioactive compounds, free radical scavenging efficacy and expression of genes, thus assisting plants to effectively defend themselves under various stresses. Nanoproducts such as nanopesticides, nanocarriers and nanosensors hold considerable potential for smart and sustained delivery of agrochemicals, genetic material and rapid disease detection, in addition to dynamic and precise crop water monitoring. NPs manifest pesticidal and insecticidal properties by altering the porosity of cell membranes, denaturing nucleic acid, arresting the cell cycle and generating oxidative stress. Furthermore, NPs strengthen plant resistance to stresses by boosting water and mineral uptake, improving ROS-scavenging enzymes, improving the photosynthetic rate and gas exchange parameters. Plants use intricate processes to organise absorption and mobilise NPs. However, there is keen urgency for the incorporation and use of multiomics in plants to get mechanistic insights at molecular levels to comprehend the signalling pathways initiated in response to NPs and for understanding phytotoxicity. In conclusion, this study not only emphasises the relevance of nanoenabled techniques in enhancing wheat health, but it also demonstrates their potential to address global food security issues.