Nanoscale characterization methods in plant disease management

Climate change, pests and disease are frequent causes of crop losses or severe yield potential reduction, while increasing food demand is calling for a more efficient management in agricultural systems. Identifying and correctly characterizing biotic or abiotic stress sources is a fundamental step for the improvement of agricultural practices. In particular, high resolution and high sensitivity techniques are needed in order to allow better analysis and quantification of pathogens and other stress causes. In this context, nanotechnologies are emerging as a set of viable tools and approaches to increase the level of knowledge and eventually allow a better management of plant diseases. The wide family of scanning probe microscopes (mainly for morphological, mechanical and chemical characterizations), scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques, along with methods based on nanomaterials (quantum dots, nanobiosensors, carbon nanomaterials and other nanosized structures) have demonstrated higher sensitivity in many cases even with reduced investigation times, thus exploiting research possibilities. In this chapter an overview of the most recent and interesting nanoscale characterization methods is provided, along with some specific applicative examples and results from case studies.