Bioinspired materials: Boosting plant biology

Michael Strano and colleagues report that the localization of nanoparticles within plant chloroplasts aids photosynthesis through the broadening of the spectral capture of light and the scavenging of radical oxygen species. Strano and collaborators first showed that two nanoscale systems, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and ceria nanoparticles, can traverse and localize within the lipid envelope of plant chloroplasts. The authors suggest a further possible element of sensitization within the photosynthetic apparatus by proposing that SWNTs may introduce electrons into the photosynthetic reactions. Strano and colleagues show that SWNTs and nanoceria pass through the outer membranes of the chloroplast and locate in the stroma, and that, remarkably, both nanoparticles influence photosynthetic performance. Because photosynthesis in such ramped up photosynthetic systems may also boost photodegradative pathways, the nanoparticle-based approach of Strano and collaborators may prove useful.