Balli Maria Vittoria, Biedermann Frank, Prodi Luca, Picchetti Pierre
Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", Università degli Studi di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Chem Soc Rev. 2025 Jul 17. doi: 10.1039/d4cs00500g.
Over the past century, modern agriculture, through the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and improved plant breeding, has greatly increased food production. However, this progress has brought serious environmental consequences, including excessive water use and harmful pesticide exposure. In addition, future farming must adapt to the growing challenges posed by climate change and natural disasters through more sustainable practices and resilient crop management. In this context, emerging supramolecular strategies offer promising alternatives through responsive molecular assemblies capable of precise sensing and controlled delivery. In this review, we thus discuss the application of supramolecular chemistry principles to plant science and agriculture, with a particular emphasis on the design and implementation of host-guest systems, chemosensors, and supramolecular (nano)delivery vehicles for use in living plants. We report and analyse recent advances in sensing and monitoring of plant processes, the detection of pesticides, the preparation of safer and more effective supramolecular pesticides, and nucleic acid-based crop protection strategies, highlighting key design principles specific to the plant biological context. Moreover, key challenges are discussed regarding the application of supramolecular systems to plants, and examples are highlighted to promote new interdisciplinary strategies for designing next-generation tools for real-time, plant studies and sustainable crop management.
在过去的一个世纪里，现代农业通过使用合成肥料、农药以及改良植物育种技术，极大地提高了粮食产量。然而，这一进展带来了严重的环境后果，包括过度用水和有害农药暴露。此外，未来的农业必须通过更可持续的做法和有韧性的作物管理，来适应气候变化和自然灾害带来的日益严峻的挑战。在这种背景下，新兴的超分子策略通过能够进行精确传感和控制递送的响应性分子组装体提供了有前景的替代方案。因此，在本综述中，我们讨论超分子化学原理在植物科学和农业中的应用，特别强调用于活植物的主客体系统、化学传感器和超分子（纳米）递送载体的设计与实施。我们报告并分析了植物过程传感与监测、农药检测、更安全有效的超分子农药制备以及基于核酸的作物保护策略方面的最新进展，突出了特定于植物生物学背景的关键设计原则。此外，还讨论了超分子系统应用于植物所面临的关键挑战，并列举了一些例子，以推动设计用于实时植物研究和可持续作物管理的下一代工具的新跨学科策略。
