In Planta Response of Arabidopsis to Photothermal Impact Mediated by Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

Biological responses to photothermal effects of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been demonstrated and employed for various applications in diverse systems except for one important class - plants. Here, the uptake of GNPs through Arabidopsis thaliana roots and translocation to leaves are reported. Successful plasmonic nanobubble generation and acoustic signal detection in planta is demonstrated. Furthermore, Arabidopsis leaves harboring GNPs and exposed to continuous laser or noncoherent light show elevated temperatures across the leaf surface and induced expression of heat-shock regulated genes. Overall, these results demonstrate that Arabidopsis can readily take up GNPs through the roots and translocate the particles to leaf tissues. Once within leaves, GNPs can act as photothermal agents for on-demand remote activation of localized biological processes in plants.

Recent Advances in Metal-Based Nanoparticle-Mediated Biological Effects in Arabidopsis thaliana: A Mini Review

“…The high GNP concentration increased the percentage of the leaf surface area, but regardless of concentration, nearly all the signals remained in the 90-200 mV amplitude range. A lack of high-amplitude signals suggests that GNPs did not aggregate in plants (Figure 1b) [27]. Thus, it seems that in addition to the changes in morphology and concentrations of monometallic nanomaterials that occur in Arabidopsis, other factors also affect the state of MNPs in plants.…”

Plasmonic gold nanostructures for biosensing and bioimaging

“…Moreover, the strong scattering signal and photostability make them an ideal type of optical labels and probes. In addition, photothermal effect caused by nanostructure absorption is widely used in bioimaging and cancer therapy [ 18 – 20 ]. Its performance depends on a modulated pump laser beam that is employed to heat the plasmonic nanostructure and a probe beam that is used to detect the thermal induced change in the reflective index.…”

A non-classical route of efficient plant uptake verified with fluorescent nanoparticles and root adhesion forces investigated using AFM

“…Recently, in phytonanotechnology, plants have been tuned positively by the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles (NPs), such as electron conductivity (improved the electron transport rate of photosystem 1 by 8.8%) 2 , ROS scavenging 3 , water/nutrient retention/supply 4 , and genetic manipulation 5 , 6 . Furthermore, NPs loaded with the chemical active ingredients have also extended the scope of microsurgery in plants through triggered release 7 – 10 . To understand the physiological consequences 11 – 14 , a comparison of the vascular uptake of NPs was carried out.…”