Foliar Formulation to Protect Plants from Abiotic Stress (UC 2016-942)

Prof. Juan Pablo Giraldo and his colleagues from the University of California, Riverside have developed a foliar formulation for increasing crop protection and photosynthetic performance when crops are under light, heat, and salinity stress. This is achieved by applying a nanomaterial (poly (acrylic acid) nanoceria, PNC) that interacts with plant chloroplasts to reduce abiotic stress. The nanoparticle formulation uses a novel, scalable and biocompatible approach to protect plant seeds, seedlings, and mature plants from stress. The emerging field of nano-enabled agriculture has the potential to create crops that are protected from climate change induced stresses and have enhanced photosynthesis. Figures are pictured below in Images/Media Gallery: Figure 1:Nanoceria (PNC) increases photosynthesis and biomass in Arabidopsis plants under stress. No nanoparticles (NNP) are shown as control Figure 2:Substantial damage to Arabidopsis plants exposed to excess light was mitigated by PNC. Joyce Patrona joycep@ucr.edu (951) 827-2524