Agricultural applications of engineered nanomaterials: Interactions with
food crops.
Supervisor:
Dr Gary Owens, Future Fellow – Mawson Institute, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia
Phone: +61 8 8302 5043. Email: gary.owens@unisa.edu.au
Dr Euan Smith, Senior Research Fellow – Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and
Remediation, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia
Phone: +61 8 8302 5042. Email: euan.smith@unisa.edu.au
Area: Environmental Science/Materials Science
Suitable for: PhD and Masters
Abstract:
While engineered nanomaterials have found widespread applications in the medical,
environmental and manufacturing sectors, applications in the agriculture sector for plant
protection and production are limited, but this seems likely in the future as nanomaterials
become commercially available in larger quantities. While some studies have suggested that
nanomaterials have potential for improving seed germination and growth, plant protection,
pathogen detection, and pesticide/herbicide residue detection (2), other studies showed
significant phytoxicity due to nanomaterial exposure (3). The increasing uncontrolled
environmental release of engineered nanomaterials has also become a concern because of
their potential toxicity to human and aquatic life. Thus the potential for nanomaterials to enter
the food chain is a major concern because the risks associated with exposure to environmental
nanomaterials is not well understood and the nature of uptake, bioaccumulation and
biotransformation of a nanomaterials by food crops is not known. In this project the uptake,
biotransformation and biomagnification of commercially available nanomaterials to food crops
will be determined together with their beneficial or detrimental effects on crop production.
Related references:
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Lav R. Khot, Sindhuja Sankaran, Joe Mari Maja, Reza Ehsani, Edmund W. Schuster (2012) Applications of
nanomaterials in agricultural production and crop protection: A review, Crop Protection, 35, 64-70.
Cyren M. Rico, Sanghamitra Majumdar, Maria Duarte-Gardea, Jose R. Peralta-Videa and Jorge L. GardeaTorresdey (2011) Interaction of Nanoparticles with Edible Plants and Their Possible Implications in the
Food Chain, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59, 3485–3498.
D. Lin and B. Xing (2007) Phytotoxicity of nanoparticles: inhibition of seed germination and root growth.
Environ. Pollut, 150, 243-250.
About Adelaide:
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia and offers a very high standard of living (top 6 in the
world according to “The Economist”), with great climate, food, wine, beautiful unspoiled
nature and beach environments, in an inexpensive setting.
The Mawson Institute (MI) has recently been established at the University of South Australia,
with strong support from the South Australian Government to research new manufacturing
technologies. Manufacturing is an important and substantial part of South Australia’s
economic base. The MI promotes a strategy based upon strong basic and applied research
that encourages scientific and technological innovation within the manufacturing sector.
Fundamental to this is the Institute’s multidisciplinary approach, building research teams in
concentrations that encompass a diverse range of disciplines, and collaboration with partners
from both academia and industry.
The institute is based in two new state-of-the-art buildings with outstanding research facilities
(see photo of the MM building).
For more information on this project please contact the supervisor.