Nanoscale Strategies for Improving Plant Salinity Tolerance

Abstract

Soil salinity poses a major threat to global food security, impairing plant physiology through ionic toxicity, osmotic stress, and oxidative damage. However, conventional breeding and genetic engineering approaches face limitations due to the complexity of stress responses and regulatory hurdles. Nanotechnology, through the unique properties of nanomaterials (NMs), offers a promising alternative. This review synthesizes recent advances in nanoscale strategies for early salt stress sensing, the regulation of ion homeostasis, and reactive oxygen species scavenging. It further examines how NMs enhance nutrient use efficiency under saline conditions and discusses emerging applications in microbiome engineering and nontransgenic genetic improvements. The integration of machine learning to optimize NM design and application is also discussed. By synthesizing insights across these disciplines, this review provides a holistic framework for developing next-generation, nanotechnology-driven solutions to mitigate salinity stress, bridging the fundamental research with field-scale application for sustainable agriculture.