With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news
about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes
(CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture. Their study, scheduled
for the October issue of ACS
Nano, a monthly journal, found that tomato seeds exposed to CNTs germinated
faster and grew into larger, heavier seedlings than other seeds. That growth-enhancing
effect could be a boon for biomass production for plant-based biofuels and other
agricultural products, they suggest.
 | | Phenotype of tomato seeds incubated during 3 days without (left) or with (right) CNTs on standard agar Murashige and Skoog medium. (Reprinted with permission from American Chemical Society) |
Mariya Khodakovskaya, Alexandru Biris, and colleagues note that considerable
scientific research is underway to use nanoparticles — wisps 1/50,000th
the width of a human hair — in agriculture. The goals of “nano-agriculture”
include improving the productivity of plants for food, fuel, and other uses.
The scientists report the first evidence that CNTs penetrate the hard outer
coating of seeds, and have beneficial effects. Nanotube-exposed seeds sprouted
up to two times faster than control seeds and the seedlings weighed more than
twice as much as the untreated plants. Those effects may occur because nanotubes
penetrate the seed coat and boost water uptake, the researchers state. “This
observed positive effect of CNTs on the seed germination could have significant
economic importance for agriculture, horticulture, and the energy sector, such
as for production of biofuels,” they add.
Posted October 21st, 2009
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