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

光合作用的植物和藻类提供了支持地球上大多数生命所需的能量和分子构件。在陆地生态系统中，从活的根中失去的糖(和其他容易利用的化合物)对支持土壤微生物活动是重要的。这种微生物活动反过来会影响碎屑的分解，从而影响养分的循环，以支持植物的生长。目前还不清楚植物能在多大程度上控制根部糖的损失，这取决于环境条件或植物的营养状况。目前，没有办法在田间土壤中根周围的精细空间尺度上连续监测简单有机化合物的浓度。该项目将开发用于检测土壤中葡萄糖的微型传感器。传感器以皮下传感器为模型，报告糖尿病患者的血糖，传感器将依靠固定的葡萄糖氧化酶的选择性来检测根部周围的葡萄糖，以产生葡萄糖特有的电信号。最终，这些传感器可以用于空间分辨，连续监测土壤和藻类周围水中各种化合物的浓度。这些传感器将提供一个新的窗口，了解光合作用有机体不稳定碳损失的动态和大小，以及这种损失对生态系统中微生物活动的影响。

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.