Nanotechnology-Induced Modulation of Functional Traits and the Plant Microbiome for Enhanced Crop Stress Tolerance

Agriculture plays a vital role in meeting the escalating global food demand driven by a rapidly growing population. However, climate change, soil degradation, and increasing biotic and abiotic stresses threaten crop productivity, food security, and the resilience of agroecosystems. Addressing these challenges requires innovative, eco-friendly strategies that enhance productivity without expanding land use or causing ecological harm. Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising approach, offering novel solutions to improve crop performance and sustainability.

Assessing plant traits such as physiological and biochemical characteristics that determine performance is crucial for understanding and enhancing crop responses to stress. Nanoparticles can strengthen plant resistance by enhancing photosynthetic efficiency, boosting antioxidant defense systems, and reducing oxidative stress indicators (e.g., H₂O₂, O₂⁻, and electrolyte leakage). At the same time, the plant microbiome plays a pivotal role in nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance, and disease suppression. Leveraging nanotechnology to modulate the microbiome provides additional opportunities to improve root architecture, nutrient-use efficiency, and stress-responsive pathways, ultimately enhancing resilience and yield stability.

Integrating nanotechnology with functional trait-based approaches and microbiome modulation represents a promising path toward sustainable and climate-smart agricultureNanomaterials can enhance plant photosynthesis, strengthen antioxidant defenses, and modulate the plant microbiome by improving nutrient delivery, increasing stress tolerance, and enabling precise pest and disease management. However, the underlying mechanisms linking nanotechnology interventions, microbiome modulation, and plant functional traits in real-world agroecosystems remain poorly understood. This knowledge gap limits the translation of laboratory findings into field applications that can sustainably improve crop productivity, resilience, and ecosystem services

This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge studies exploring the intersection of nanotechnology, functional trait modification, and plant microbiome modulation in crops, particularly under diverse agroecosystem conditions. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Nanotechnology-mediated changes in key functional traits (e.g., crop growth and photosynthetic attributes, nutrient use efficiency).

• Role of nanoparticles in improving crop resilience to abiotic stresses (heavy metals, drought, salinity, temperature extremes) through trait modulation.

• Nanotechnology-enhanced disease and pest management and its impact on plant health traits.

• Nanotechnology-induced modulation of the plant microbiome for enhanced nutrient acquisition and cycling.

• Nanoparticle-mediated shifts in the microbiome for disease suppression and improved biocontrol activity.

• Nano-enabled microbiome engineering to strengthen crop tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses.

• Trait-based assessment of nanofertilizers, nanopesticides, and nano-enabled growth regulators in field and controlled environments.

• Integration of trait-based modelling with nanotechnology interventions for predicting crop performance.

• Socio-environmental considerations and sustainability implications of nanotechnology in functional plant ecology.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Nanoparticle, Microbiome, Plant Growth, Photosynthesis, Nutrient Use Efficiency, Biotic and Abiotic Stress

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.