A new sensor for detecting mRNA in crops

This project exploits the use of nanotechnology to design a system that will have uses in crop science and also has potential for wider applications. Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular level and this project aims to develop a sensor that can be used as a tool to improve key aspects of crop research. The sensor that we will develop is based on the use of nanoparticles and graphene oxide. Graphene itself is an atom thick, hexagonal lattice, nanomaterial made of carbon atoms and graphene oxide has a number of useful properties that are amenable to its development as a biosensor. Our aim is to develop a sensor that will efficiently detect changes in gene-expression levels of various nutrient transporters in response to micronutrient stress in crops. Insufficient amounts of micronutrients such as zinc (Zn) in crop tissues has a detrimental effect on crop yield and on grain nutritional quality thus impacting food security. Membrane transporter proteins are responsible for the transport of key micronutrients in plants and under nutrient stress conditions their gene expression can be up-regulated to ensure more efficient uptake and use of the available nutrients. Our sensor is based on detecting these changes in gene expression by a process involving binding to specific oligonucleotides for the gene in question. Nucleotides serve as the basis of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA and our sensor will be designed to monitor changes in the levels of the RNA that encodes these nutrient transporters. We will focus on barley and wheat cereal crops where we have shown that under Zn stress particular members of the ZIP transporter family are up-regulated. These Zn-transporting ZIPs are proposed to increase the efficiency of Zn uptake and allocation under conditions of low Zn supply and thus can be used as markers of nutritional stress. Currently, gene expression analysis makes use of PCR-based techniques, which are time consuming and can be costly and technically challenging. A kit enabling rapid detection of nutrient deficiencies in crops by monitoring changes in marker gene expression will improve fundamental plant research and enable real world applications in crop-health monitoring. This project idea is timely for future applications and aligned with the urgency for the improved nutrition value and performance of crops across the globe. This is the first time that this newly discovered sensor based on highly advanced nanotechnological developments will be applied in crop science.