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Lead is a cumulative toxicant, which can induce severe health issues, especially in children’s case due to their immature nervous system. While realizing large-scale monitoring of children blood lead remains challenging by utilizing traditional methods, it is highly desirable to search for alternative techniques or novel sensing materials. Here we report a label-free and portable aptasensor based on graphene field effect transistor (FET) for effective children blood lead detection. With standard solutions of different Pb2+ concentrations, we obtained a dose-response curve and a detection limitation below 37.5 ng/L, which is three orders lower than the safe blood lead level (100 μg/L). The devices also showed excellent selectivity over other metal cations such as, Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+, suggesting the capability of working in a complex sample matrix. We further successfully demonstrated the detection of Pb2+ ions in real blood samples from children by using our aptasensors, and explored their potential applications for quantification. Our results underscore such graphene FET aptasensors for future applications on fast detection of heavy metal ions for health monitoring and disease diagnostics.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) feeds ∼3 billion people. Due to the wide occurrence of arsenic (As) pollution in paddy soils and its efficient plant uptake, As in rice grains presents health risks. Genetic manipulation may offer an effective approach to reduce As accumulation in rice grains. The genetics of As uptake and metabolism have been elucidated and target genes have been identified for genetic engineering to reduce As accumulation in grains. Key processes controlling As in grains include As uptake, arsenite (AsIII) efflux, arsenate (AsV) reduction and AsIII sequestration, and As methylation and volatilization. Recent advances, including characterization of AsV uptake transporter OsPT8, AsV reductase OsHAC1;1 and OsHAC1;2, rice glutaredoxins, and rice ABC transporter OsABCC1, make many possibilities to develop low-arsenic rice.

Arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV) is efficient in taking up As and nutrients from As-contaminated soils. We evaluated the mechanisms used by PV to mobilize As and Fe by examining the impacts of As and root exudates on FeAsO4 solubilization, and As and Fe uptake in four plants: As-hyperaccumulators PV and Pteris multifida (PM), nonhyperaccumulator Pteris ensiformis (PE), and angiosperm plant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Phytate and oxalate were dominant in fern plants (>93%), which were 50-83, 15-42, and 0-32 mg kg(-1) phytate and 10-15, 7-26, and 4-12 mg kg(-1) oxalate for PV, PM, and PE respectively, with higher As inducing greater phytate exudation and no phytate being detected in tomato exudates. PV treated with phytate+FeAsO4 had higher As and Fe contents and larger biomass than phytate or FeAsO4 treatment, which were 340 vs 20 and 130 mg kg(-1) As in the fronds and 7900 vs 1600 and 4100 mg kg(-1) Fe in the roots. We hypothesized that As-induced phytate exudation helped PV to take up Fe and As from insoluble FeAsO4 and promoted PV growth. Our study suggests that phytate exudation may be special to fern plants, which may play an important role in enhancing As and nutrient uptake by plants, thereby increasing their efficiency in phytoremediation of As-contaminated soils.

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