Nanoparticle Mediated Plant Tolerance to Heavy Metal Stress: What We Know?
Mohammad Faizan, Pravej Alam, Vishnu D. Rajput, Ahmad Faraz, Shadma Afzal, Shakil Ahmed, Fangyuan Yu, Tatiana Minkina, Shamsul Hayat
Abstract
Nanoparticles (NPs) are playing an important role in addressing various environmental constraints by giving ingenious and successful resolutions. Heavy metal (HM) stress has gained significant importance in the last few years because of its speedy incorporation into agricultural sectors. Due to exclusive physiochemical properties, NPs can be effectively applied for stress mitigation strategies. NPs are highly effective over bulk scale parts owing to the control of the enhanced surface area and the possibility for specific properties to enhance nutrient uptake. In the present review, we explore the use of NPs as an environmentally sound practice to enhance plant growth when exposed to abiotic stress, particularly HM stress. Furthermore, we display an extensive summary of recent progress concerning the role of NPs in HM stress tolerance. This review paper will also be useful for comprehending phytoremediation of contaminated soils and indicates the prospective research required for the cooperative submission of NPs in the soil for sustainable agriculture.