SGER: Developing a New Miniaturized Sensor for Detecting Glucose in Soil

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Photosynthetic plants and algae provide the energy and molecular building blocks necessary to support most life on Earth. In terrestrial ecosystems, sugars (and other easily utilized compounds) lost from living roots are important for supporting soil microbial activity. This microbial activity in turn influences decomposition of detritus and thus the recycling of nutrients to support plant growth. It is not yet clear how extensively plants can control the loss of sugars from roots depending on environmental conditions or plant nutrient status. Currently there is no way to continuously monitor concentrations of simple organic compounds at fine spatial scales around roots in field soils. This project will develop miniaturized sensors for detecting glucose in soils. Modeled on subcutaneous sensors that report blood sugar in diabetic patients, sensors will detect glucose around roots by relying on the selectivity of immobilized glucose oxidase enzyme to generate a glucose-specific electrical signal. Ultimately, these sensors could be used for spatially resolved, continuous monitoring of concentrations of a variety of compounds in soil and in water around algae. The sensors will provide a new window into dynamics and magnitude of labile carbon loss from photosynthetic organisms, and the implications of that loss for microbial activity in ecosystems.