This is the first time that nanosensors can detect and differentiate gibberellins (GAs), a type of plant hormone that controls plant growth, produced and stabilized in living plants (The first nanotube sensor can detect and distinguish plant gibberellin hormones).
- Nanosensors can penetrate the roots of various living plants to detect the gibberellin signal of the plant when it is under environmental stress, which can negatively affect the growth and health of the plant.
- This new solution provides real-time in vivo monitoring of GA levels in plants, a break from current methods that often include destructive collection methods, and opens the way for new advances in plant care monitoring when – help solve key challenges in agriculture Researchers from Singapore – MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG), MIT research institute in Singapore and others in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) has developed the first nanosensor. which can detect and distinguish gibberellins (GA), a type of hormone found in plants that is important for growth. The new nanosensors are non-destructive, unlike traditional collection methods, and have been thoroughly tested on living plants. Along with the field for real-time monitoring of plant stress, sensors can show changes for agriculture and biotechnology, providing farmers interested in advanced technology and crop management with useful tools to increase efficiency.
The researchers designed a carbon nanotube near-miss (NIR) fluorescent sensor that can detect and differentiate between (The first nanotube sensor can detect and distinguish plant gibberellin hormones) two plant hormones, GA3 and GA4. Belonging to a class of plant hormones called gibberellins (GA), GA3 and GA4 are diterpenoid phytohormones produced by plants that play an important role in modulating various processes involved in plant growth and development. GAs are believed to be instrumental in the “Green Revolution” of the 1960s, which is credited with ending hunger and saving lives around the world. Continuing the study of gibberellins may lead to new advances in agricultural science and have implications for food security.
Climate change, global warming and sea levels are leading to the contamination of agricultural land and salt water, which increases soil salinity. In turn, high soil salinity is known to negatively regulate GA biosynthesis and promote the metabolism of GA, resulting in a decrease in GA content in plants. Novel nanosensors developed by SMART researchers facilitate the initial study of GA dynamics in living plants under salinity stress, may allow farmers to act quickly when finally put in the field. This forms the basis for early detection of stress.
Currently, GA3 and GA4 detection methods often require spectroscopy-based analysis, a time-consuming and destructive process. In contrast, the new sensors developed by researchers are highly selective for different GAs and provide real-time in vivo monitoring of changes in GA levels in a variety of plants.
Described in a paper titled “Near-Infrared Fluorescent Carbon Nanotube Sensors for the Plant Hormone Family Gibberellins” published in the journal Nano Letters, the discovery represents a breakthrough for the early detection of plant stress and has great potential for improving skills and Biotechnology. wood and agriculture. This article builds on previous research by the SMART DiSTAP group on carbon nanotube (SWNT-based) nanosensors using a corona-phase molecular reflection system (CoPhMoRe).
Based on the CoPhMoRe concept initiated by MIT’s Strano Lab, the new sensors can detect GA kinetics in the roots of a variety of non-vegetable plant species, including Arabidopsis, lettuce and basil, and GA accumulation during root emergence. emergence, highlighting the importance of GA in the root architecture process. This was made possible by the related development of the researchers of the new Raman/NIR fluorimeter that enables the self-evaluation of the nanosensor’s NIR fluorescence and its G-band Raman, a new hardware innovation that eliminates the need for a nanosensor different and more. simplifies these requirements by using a single optical channel to measure hormone concentration.
Using flexible GA nanosensors, researchers found an increase in endogenous GA levels in mutant plants over expressing GA20ox1, the key enzyme in GA biosynthesis, and a decrease in GA levels in plants under salinity stress. When exposed to salinity stress, the researchers also found that the growth of the lettuce was significantly reduced – an indication that only appeared after 10 days. In contrast, GA nanosensors reported a decrease in GA levels after only 6 hours, demonstrating their effectiveness as an early indicator of salinity stress.
“Our CoPhMoRe process allows us to create nanoparticles that act as physical antibodies because they can recognize and lock in molecules. But they tend to be more stable than others. We have successfully developed nanosensors using this method for plant markers such as hydrogen peroxide and heavy metal pollution such as arsenic in plants and soil. This process works to create sensors for molecules such as synthetic auxin – an important plant hormone – as we have shown. “This new breakthrough extends that success to a family of plant hormones called gibberellins – a family that is difficult to identify,” said co-author Professor Michael Strano, DSTAP Research Fellow, and Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. “The resulting technology provides a rapid, real-time, in vivo method to monitor changes in GA levels in almost any plant, and can replace current detection methods that active, destructive, form-specific and ineffective.
Dr. Mervin Chun-Yi Ang, Associate Scientific Director at DiSTAP and first author of the paper, added: “More than just progress in plant stress detection, we have also demonstrated new hardware in the form of Raman / new. NIR Fluorimeter couple of allowed the self-evaluation of the fluorescence of the SWNT sensor with its Raman G band, which represents a major advance in the translation of our nanodetection devices in the field. In the near future, our sensors can be integrated with low-cost electronics, wearable optodes, or micro-needles for industrial applications, changing the way companies detect and reduce plant stress food garden.
New sensors may still have different industrial applications and use cases. As explained by TLL’s principal investigator, NUS Adjunct Assistant Professor Daisuke Urano and co-sponsor of the paper, “GA is known to regulate many plant development processes, from shoots, roots and flowers, seed emergence and stress wood. answer. Through the commercialization of GA, these plant hormones are also sold to growers and farmers as plant growth regulators to improve plant growth and yield. Our novel GA nanosensors can be applied in the field for real-time monitoring of crop stress, and growers and farmers use them to track GA uptake or metabolism in their crops.
The design and development of nanosensors, the creation and verification of Raman / NIR combined fluorimeter and image / data processing algorithms, and the collection of research reports of plant material for this study done by SMART at MIT; while TLL is responsible for the design, execution and analysis of plant studies, including validation of nanosensors in living plants. The research is conducted by SMART and funded by the NRF through the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE).
