Two-Photon Sensing and Imaging of Endogenous Biological Cyanide in Plant Tissues Using Graphene Quantum Dot/Gold Nanoparticle Conjugate.
One main source of cyanide (CN(-)) exposure for mammals is through the plant consumption, and thus, sensitive and selective CN(-) detection in plants tissue is a significant and urgent work. Although various fluorescence probes have been reported for CN(-) in water and mammalian cells, the detection of endogenous biological CN(-) in plant tissue remains to be explored due to the high background signal and large thickness of plant tissue that hamper the effective application of traditional one-photo excitation. To address these issues, we developed a new two-photo excitation (TPE) nanosensor using graphene quantum dots (GQDs)/gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) conjugate for sensing and imaging endogenous biological CN(-). With the benefit of the high quenching efficiency of AuNPs and excellent two-photon properties of GQDs, our sensing system can achieve a low detection limit of 0.52 μM and deeper penetration depth (about 400 μm) without interference from background signals of a complex biological environment, thus realizing sensing and imaging of CN(-) in different types of plant tissues and even monitoring CN(-) removal in food processing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time for fluorescent sensing and imaging of CN(-) in plant tissues. Moreover, our design also provides a new model scheme for the development of two-photon fluorescent nanomaterial, which is expected to hold great potential for food processing and safety testing.
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Lili
L
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Jing
J
Zheng
School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology , Changsha 410004, China.
Sheng
S
Yang
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Cuichen
C
Wu
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Changhui
C
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Yue
Y
Xiao
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
Yinhui
Y
Li
School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology , Changsha 410004, China.
Zhihe
Z
Qing
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.|School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology , Changsha 410004, China.
Ronghua
R
Yang
D003486:Cyanides / Q000378:metabolism*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017785:Photons; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D003486:Cyanides; D006046:Gold; D006108:Graphite
cyanide; gold nanoparticle; graphene quantum dot; imaging; plant tissue; two-photon