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Graphene oxide–upconversion nanoparticle based portable sensors for assessing nutritional deficiencies in crops

Graphene oxide–upconversion nanoparticle based portable sensors for assessing nutritional deficiencies in crops
Graphene oxide–upconversion nanoparticle based portable sensors for assessing nutritional deficiencies in crops
The development of innovative technologies to rapidly detect biomarkers associated with nutritional deficiencies in crops is highly relevant to agriculture and thus could impact the future of food security. Zinc (Zn) is an important micronutrient in plants and deficiency leads to poor health, quality and yield of crops. We have developed portable sensors, based on graphene oxide and upconversion nanoparticles, which could be used in the early detection of Zn deficiency in crops, sensing messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding members of the ZIP-transporter family in crops. ZIPs are membrane transport proteins, some of which are up-regulated at the early stages of Zn deficiency and they are part of the biological mechanism by which crops respond to nutritional deficiency. The principle of these sensors is based on the intensity of the optical output resulting from the interaction of oligonucleotide-coated upconversion nanoparticles and graphene oxide in the absence or presence of a specific oligonucleotide target. The sensors can reliably detect mRNAs in RNA extracts from plants using a smartphone camera. Our work introduces the development of accurate and highly sensitive sensors for use in the field to determine crop nutrient status and ultimately facilitate economically important nutrient management decisions.
1936-0851
6273–6279
Giust, Davide
fc70a34b-ee5e-4902-98b5-59cbb0e4ba7e
Lucio benito, Maria I
8d0ba700-3b3d-4401-a3c0-184934a226d8
El-Sagheer, Afaf
05b8295a-64ad-4fdf-ad57-c34934a46c04
Brown, Tom
a64aae36-bb30-42df-88a2-11be394e8c89
Williams, Lorraine E.
79ee1856-3732-492b-8ac5-239749c85d9e
Muskens, Otto
2284101a-f9ef-4d79-8951-a6cda5bfc7f9
Kanaras, Antonios
667ecfdc-7647-4bd8-be03-a47bf32504c7
Giust, Davide
fc70a34b-ee5e-4902-98b5-59cbb0e4ba7e
Lucio benito, Maria I
8d0ba700-3b3d-4401-a3c0-184934a226d8
El-Sagheer, Afaf
05b8295a-64ad-4fdf-ad57-c34934a46c04
Brown, Tom
a64aae36-bb30-42df-88a2-11be394e8c89
Williams, Lorraine E.
79ee1856-3732-492b-8ac5-239749c85d9e
Muskens, Otto
2284101a-f9ef-4d79-8951-a6cda5bfc7f9
Kanaras, Antonios
667ecfdc-7647-4bd8-be03-a47bf32504c7

Giust, Davide, Lucio benito, Maria I, El-Sagheer, Afaf, Brown, Tom, Williams, Lorraine E., Muskens, Otto and Kanaras, Antonios (2018) Graphene oxide–upconversion nanoparticle based portable sensors for assessing nutritional deficiencies in crops. ACS Nano, 12 (6), 6273–6279. (doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b03261).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The development of innovative technologies to rapidly detect biomarkers associated with nutritional deficiencies in crops is highly relevant to agriculture and thus could impact the future of food security. Zinc (Zn) is an important micronutrient in plants and deficiency leads to poor health, quality and yield of crops. We have developed portable sensors, based on graphene oxide and upconversion nanoparticles, which could be used in the early detection of Zn deficiency in crops, sensing messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding members of the ZIP-transporter family in crops. ZIPs are membrane transport proteins, some of which are up-regulated at the early stages of Zn deficiency and they are part of the biological mechanism by which crops respond to nutritional deficiency. The principle of these sensors is based on the intensity of the optical output resulting from the interaction of oligonucleotide-coated upconversion nanoparticles and graphene oxide in the absence or presence of a specific oligonucleotide target. The sensors can reliably detect mRNAs in RNA extracts from plants using a smartphone camera. Our work introduces the development of accurate and highly sensitive sensors for use in the field to determine crop nutrient status and ultimately facilitate economically important nutrient management decisions.

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final revised Kanaras manuscript Plant sensors - Accepted Manuscript
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acsnano.8b03261 - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 June 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 June 2018
Published date: 26 June 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 421534
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421534
ISSN: 1936-0851
PURE UUID: 85cec033-cfb6-4acf-b5c4-3ac512b26723
ORCID for Afaf El-Sagheer: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8706-1292
ORCID for Otto Muskens: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0693-5504
ORCID for Antonios Kanaras: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-6706

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Jun 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:42

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Contributors

Author: Davide Giust
Author: Maria I Lucio benito
Author: Afaf El-Sagheer ORCID iD
Author: Tom Brown
Author: Otto Muskens ORCID iD

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