title: Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics.
abstract: Plant nanobionics aims to embed non-native functions to plants by interfacing them with specifically designed nanoparticles. Here, we demonstrate that living spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea) can be engineered to serve as self-powered pre-concentrators and autosamplers of analytes in ambient groundwater and as infrared communication platforms that can send information to a smartphone. The plants employ a pair of near-infrared fluorescent nanosensors-single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) conjugated to the peptide Bombolitin II to recognize nitroaromatics via infrared fluorescent emission, and polyvinyl-alcohol functionalized SWCNTs that act as an invariant reference signal-embedded within the plant leaf mesophyll. As contaminant nitroaromatics are transported up the roots and stem into leaf tissues, they accumulate in the mesophyll, resulting in relative changes in emission intensity. The real-time monitoring of embedded SWCNT sensors also allows residence times in the roots, stems and leaves to be estimated, calculated to be 8.3 min (combined residence times of root and stem) and 1.9 min mm-1leaf, respectively. These results demonstrate the ability of living, wild-type plants to function as chemical monitors of groundwater and communication devices to external electronics at standoff distances.
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Min Hao
authors: MH
authors: Wong
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
authors: Juan P
authors: JP
authors: Giraldo
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Seon-Yeong
authors: SY
authors: Kwak
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Volodymyr B
authors: VB
authors: Koman
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Rosalie
authors: R
authors: Sinclair
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Tedrick Thomas Salim
authors: TT
authors: Lew
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Gili
authors: G
authors: Bisker
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Pingwei
authors: P
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Michael S
authors: MS
authors: Strano
mesh_terms: D001701:Bionics / Q000379:methods; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000032:analysis; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D007259:Infrared Rays; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000502:physiology*; D018724:Spinacia oleracea / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D053834:Explosive Agents; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D010455:Peptides; C044299:bombolitins