PHOTOSYNTHETICA

Photosynthetica 2021, 59(4):570-586 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2021.049

Insights into nanoparticle-induced changes in plant photosynthesis

M. GHORBANPOUR¹, A. MOVAHEDI¹, M. HATAMI¹, K. KARIMAN², F. BOVAND³, M.A. SHAHID⁴

¹ Department of Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, 38156-8-8349 Arak, Iran

² UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

³ Departments of Agronomy, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran

⁴ Department of Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Systems, University of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824, USA

Photosynthesis can be affected by nanoparticles (NPs) both negatively (e.g., through decreasing the chlorophyll content and electron transport rate, damages to chloroplast components, etc.) or positively (e.g., via enhancing chlorophyll content, the activity of Rubisco enzyme, the performance of PSII, and CO₂ harvesting, as well as broadening the chloroplast photoabsorption spectrum). Enhanced photosynthetic efficiency could be a possible impact of NPs on photosynthetic organisms of major economic and ecological significance (e.g., crops and algae), which warrants an in-depth understanding of NPs interactions with chloroplast and its structural components (e.g., thylakoid membranes), signaling molecules, and pathways involved in photosynthesis. In this review, we comprehensively explore the potential effects of NPs on photosynthesis in different photosynthetic organisms (terrestrial plants, aquatic plants, and algae), and highlight research limitations and possible practical implications.

Additional key words: chlorophyll; chloroplast; nanoparticles; photosynthesis.

Received: July 1, 2021; Revised: September 17, 2021; Accepted: October 12, 2021; Prepublished online: November 8, 2021; Published: December 17, 2021  Show citation