Collaborative Research: IDBR: Type A: The NANAPHID: A novel aphid-like nanosensor network for real-time measurements of carbohydrates in live plant tissue

奥尔巴尼大学（SUNY）和几个合作组织，包括另外两个SUNY校区（SUNY理工学院和SUNY环境科学与林业学院）和波士顿大学，获得了一个奖项，以构建和测试一种类似蚜虫的纳米生物传感器，其目的是实时监测活植物组织中的糖。研究生和本科生将参与NANAPHID技术的开发。在NANAPHID发展过程中取得的成果将通过讲座、学生实验练习和实地考察向社会传播。该项目将包括一个独特的网站，用于播放有关NANAPHID设计、功能和最新研究成果的网络研讨会。NANAPHID将对糖进行常规测量，这将使许多生物研究界受益，包括植物生态学家、美国国家科学基金会资助的长期生态研究（LTER）站点的研究人员，以及参与广泛的陆地碳循环实验和建模研究的科学家。在作物研究和管理方面的应用也很有前景。例如，该传感器有可能取代折射法，成为糖体积分析的首选方法。非结构性碳水化合物（NSCs）是植物体内能量和生长分配的货币。这些光合作用的产物以可溶性糖的形式流通，其浓度是用破坏性的分析技术来估计的，这种分析技术很难将植物汁液中的糖与混合到样品中的相关细胞物质区分开来。NANAPHID技术将利用茎、根和枝的浓度实时测量NSC，并为生物学家提供许多新的机会来监测植物资源分配的关键变化。跟踪活植物的这些变化对于直接测试气候、疾病、大气养分负荷和酸性沉积等许多环境变化的影响是必要的。

An award is made to the University at Albany (SUNY) and several collaborating organizations, including two other SUNY campuses (SUNY Polytechnic Institute and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) and Boston University, to construct and test an aphid-like nanobiosensor whose purpose is to enable real-time monitoring of sugars in living plant tissues. Graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the development of NANAPHID technology. The results obtained in the process of NANAPHID development will be disseminated to the community through lectures, student laboratory exercises and field trips. The project will include a unique Website used to broadcast webinars addressing NANAPHID design, its capabilities, and the latest research results. The NANAPHID will make routine measurements of sugars that will benefit many biological research communities including plant ecologists, investigators at NSF-funded Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites, and scientists involved in a broad range of experimental and modelling studies of terrestrial carbon cycling. Applications in crop plant research and management are also promising. For example, the sensor has the potential to replace refractometry as the method of choice for volumetric analysis of sugars. Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) are the currency of energy and growth allocation within plants. These products of photosynthesis are circulated as soluble sugars, whose concentrations are estimated using destructive analytical techniques that have difficulties distinguishing sugars in plant sap from associated cellular materials that get mixed into samples. NANAPHID technology will make real-time in situ measurements of NSC using concentrations in stems, roots, and branches and provide biologists with many new opportunities to monitor critical changes in resource allocation in plants. Tracking these changes in living plants is necessary for directly testing the effect of many environmental changes such as climate, diseases, atmospheric nutrient loads, and acidic deposition.