Quantum dots exposure in plants: Minimizing the adverse response

Quantum dots (QDs) are being widely used for a range of new applications in chemistry, biology, medicine and agrifood. The rapid increase in annual usage-rate of QDs has raised concerns over their environmental dispersal, as well as for impacts on human and environmental health and safety. Consequently, a full understanding of the molecular pathways and genetic mechanisms influenced by QDs in terrestrial plants is necessary. Innovative nanotoxicological strategies such as transcriptomics and proteomics are producing useful data for QDs risk assessment. The application of toxicogenomic strategies based on molecular biomarkers of exposure/effect in plants including food crops is among the most promising applications of this strategy.