Fostering nanoscience's strategies: A new frontier in sustainable crop improvement for abiotic stress tolerance

Advanced nano-engineering is a convenient technology to attain food security and ensure sustainable agricultural yield and productivity. In addition to addressing the yield barrier, the application of nanoscience emphasizes its potential through innovations such as precision farming, site-targeted delivery of agrochemicals, disease control, and mitigation of environmental stresses in plants. Abiotic stresses negatively influence growth and yield of plants by affecting the physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of plants. As seen in recent years, such precedents in plants can be significantly alleviated through the implementation of nanoparticles. The application of nanoparticles helps in understanding the appropriate mechanisms in plants against abiotic stresses and enhances those responses more effectively. Biochemical and physiological adaptations stimulated by nanoparticles include the activation of the antioxidative defense system, stress regulatory gene expressions, stimulation of crucial biochemical pathways, and hormonal regulations. Considering the potential advantages of nanomaterials to date, their full implementation is yet to be a reality in the agricultural sector, largely limited due to concerns regarding the uptake, translocation, bioavailability, and eco-toxicity of nanoparticles. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and responses induced by nanoparticles through molecular approaches is critical in assessing nanomaterials' biological potential. The present review addresses the possible scope of nanotechnology to counter abiotic stress in economically important crops, and their influence on development, growth, absorption, and translocation in plants. Here, an attempt is made to provide an elucidative framework on recent findings related to nanoparticle-induced stress tolerance in plants through a comprehensive insight into molecular mechanisms and biochemical responses that may help to meet the need for adaptive measures in crops during abiotic stress conditions.