Foliage adhesion and interactions with particulate delivery systems for plant nanobionics and intelligent agriculture

The constantly increasing global food demand galvanizes innovative agricultural actions aimed to transcend current production levels. The predicted near-future food security scenario is alarming, requiring actions beyond traditional agricultural practices. Following the success of nanotechnologies in pharma and health sciences, nano-enabled agriculture is expected to increase crop yields and limit losses to pathogens, pests and other threats. Associated efforts are enabled by real-time sensing and controlled delivery, the latter of which considers cargos designed for controlled and targeted release, especially if triggered on demand. In this review, we introduce recent breakthroughs in these areas, including pesticide delivery as well as genetic modification and the engineering of nanoparticles for application in living materials. We offer a critical discussion on the physico-chemistry of adhesion of nanoparticles to vegetal tissue, their uptake and translocation in and within plants.