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Nanotechnology pp 191–208Cite as

The Impact of Engineered Nanomaterials on Crops and Soil Microorganisms

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Abstract

With the increases in the applications of nanocontaining biosolids and agrochemicals to agricultural fields, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are inevitably released into soils. This ENM accumulation may pose risks to agricultural ecosystems. Both crops and soil microorganisms are susceptible to ENMs. Recent findings demonstrate that ENMs have detrimental or beneficial effects on crops and soil microbial communities, which could subsequently bring unknown implications in food chain. Thus, there has been an increasing concern about the impact of ENMs on plant and microorganisms alone and/or in combination. This chapter emphatically documented the recent researches on the responses of plant and soil microorganisms and their potential feedback to different ENMs. More importantly, there is mutual relationship between plant and soil microorganisms, forming a plant-microbial ecological system. The future research should be emphasized on the combined roles of plants-microorganisms in the ENM ecological functions, which is vital to the comprehensive evaluation of ENM effects on agroecosystem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China

    Shiying He

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China

    Youzhi Feng

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  1. Shiying He
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Correspondence to Shiying He .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ram Prasad

  2. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Vivek Kumar

  3. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Manoj Kumar

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He, S., Feng, Y. (2017). The Impact of Engineered Nanomaterials on Crops and Soil Microorganisms. In: Prasad, R., Kumar, V., Kumar, M. (eds) Nanotechnology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4678-0_11

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