Nanoscale Elements Suppress Plant Disease, Enhance Macronutrient Use Efficiency, and Increase Crop Yield

Theprimary goal of this project is to use nanoscale elements as a comprehensive agricultural amendment strategy to suppress crop disease, improve nutritional content, and enhance overall yield. Soil pathogens significantly limit agricultural production, reducing crop yield by 10-20% and resulting in billions of dollars in annual losses. Separately, pathogen control efforts by fungicides exceed $600 million per year in the US. At the same time, macronutrient utilization remains low due to environmental losses and low availability. This shortfall in food production will worsen with a changing climate and an increasing population. Nanotechnology can play a critical role in maximizing global food production and achieving food security. Current approaches have focused on nano-enabled conventional agrichemicals, nanosensors, and waste treatment strategies. However, little is known about the effects of nanoparticle (NP) elements on disease suppression, macronutrient uptake, and crop growth.
For example, plant micronutrients are pivotal in disease resistance through activation of defense barrier production and by affecting the systemic acquired resistance pathway. Unfortunately, element availability in soil is limited and foliarly applied micronutrients are not significantly translocated to roots. Although NP intra plant translocation has been reported, there is no information on whether enhanced translocation of NP elements can deter root or shoot pathogens. Based on preliminary data and a recent review of the literature, our central hypothesis is that NP elements can be used to strategically suppress disease, improve nutritional status and enhance crop growth and yield. Our four objectives are:Obj.1- Demonstrate NP efficacy upon foliar or root application at suppressing fungal pathogen infection in model vegetable and grain species.Obj.2- Determine the role of soil type and NP source in disease suppression and crop yield.Obj.3- Determine the impact of NP element
treatment on macronutrient (NPK) utilization.Obj.4- Characterize NP absorption and translocation mechanisms in plant tissues by scanning/ transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM-EDS).