In recent years, the agronomic application of Engineered NanoMaterials (ENMs) in plants (phytonanotechnology) has emerged to revolutionize conventional plant production systems for increased disease resistance, nutrient utilization, and crop yield. Along with the groundbreaking potential of such techniques, one should be careful about their trophic transfer to plants. This topic has been rarely studied, compared to the toxic effect of ENMs in human systems. However, assessment of ENM toxicity to plant cells is critical to the
implementation of nanotechnology in agriculture and support of global sustainability and the EC's European Green Deal. The proposed project addresses potential key cellular processes involved in the delivery of ENMs to plants and the safe use and social acceptance of phytonanotechnology, assessing potential adverse effects, including the risks associated with the transfer of ENMs through the food chain. To do so, novel analytical techniques are essential that could study metal-based ENMs and their distribution within individual cells. The development of Single Particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS) is a new area of research which allows rapid detection and analysis of ENMs in a variety of matrices and applications, as it allows discrete pulses of positively charged ions to be detected and measured in a time resolved manner using microsecond data acquisition rates. PhytoENM will go beyond, applying the concept of Single Cell ICP-MS (SC-ICP-MS), where individual cells are rapidly analyzed for their particulate & ionic content, something that has not been done before in plants. The project will also use novel stable-isotope labelling techniques pioneered by the applicant team. This would allow the understanding of the interaction of metal-based ENMs in single cells spatially, and the related mechanistic pathways, leading to information on their distribution and potential toxicity.
The overall aim of the project is to elucidate fundamental plant-ENM interactions, by systematically evaluating the translocation and fate within plant cells of a reference group of ENMs, chosen for their relevance to phytonanotechnology. The work is focused on staple food plants (rice and wheat), to ensure agricultural relevance. In the proposed work, plant cellular uptake and translocation will be linked to the intrinsic physicochemical properties of ENMs, something that has been scarcely studied to date given a lack of appropriate analytical tools. With the very recent arrival of SC-ICP-MS, however, a novel analytical method pioneered by the supervisory partnership (PerkinElmer, supported by UoB), a unique opportunity has emerged. PhytoENM will, for the first time, test cell line and multi-cellular plant material to assess quantitatively uptake (dissolved vs. particulate) in individual single cell populations. The SC-ICP-MS technique has so far been tested on unicellular organisms (algae) and mammalian cell lines, but has yet to be tested comprehensively in plants and thus realize its potential commercialization and impact on agricultural practices. Plant cells are, however, discrete from algae and mammalian cells and dedicated methods are needed. The proposed work is highly novel and will open up the field of phytonanotechnology and facilitate its acceptance.
