Nucleic acid aptamers for molecular recognition applications in agriculture

联合国的“零饥饿”可持续发展目标是“实现粮食安全”和“促进可持续农业”。当所有人“都能获得充足、安全和营养的食物”时，粮食安全就存在了。化学可以通过开发新的方法和工具来提高作物获取重要养分的效率，保护作物免受害虫和压力源的侵害，并监测从农场到餐桌的食品安全和质量，从而在解决可持续粮食安全问题方面发挥关键作用。适配体是能够选择性地、高亲和力地结合到分子靶标上的DNA链。它们可以作为生物传感器的基石，作为药物递送的靶向剂，以及作为抑制剂和治疗药物。本研究计划的目标是通过三个目标开发适体工具，以推进精准农业和粮食安全：1)用于生物传感的根际生物标记适体：与根接触的土壤薄区域，即根际，是一个复杂的环境，充满了植物、土壤和微生物之间相互作用的化学信息。在这里发现的根系信号是评估作物和土壤状况的宝贵线索。量化这些化合物的适体工具可提供有关作物健康的有用信息，并可用于监测和应对局部作物条件。这个研究轴将建立在我们在适应性开发方面的专业知识上，并将它们集成到低成本的、使用点的测试中。我们在适配体和纳米生物传感方面的专业知识的结合为我们开发在复杂土壤介质中监测这些生物标志物的工具奠定了坚实的基础。2)靶向递送的植物表面适体：适体已被用作药物载体的组成部分，因为它们具有将治疗递送到靶向细胞位置的能力，包括跨越生物屏障。靶向适体技术在植物表面传递化学品将提高农用化学品的效率。这一研究轴将把我们的专业知识应用于其他递送适体，包括那些能够穿过血脑屏障的适体，以解锁用于植物处理的新转运体。3)提高作物抗逆性的适体：作物易受诸如高温和干旱等逆境的影响，从而导致植物细胞内蛋白质聚集等直接伤害。能够阻止作物中蛋白质聚集的适体可以用于提高植物的抗逆性。该研究轴将运用我们在开发帕金森病适体蛋白聚集抑制剂方面的专业知识，寻找新的工具来帮助减少作物损失。加拿大拥有成为全球农业创新领导者的技术和人才。加拿大是世界第五大农产品出口国，农业每年为我们的经济贡献超过1000亿美元。这里提出的研究将提供基础知识和专家培训，以推动未来的智能农场。

The UN's Zero Hunger sustainable development goal is to "achieve food security" and "promote sustainable agriculture". Food security exists when all people "have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food". Chemistry can play a key role in addressing sustainable food security by developing new methods and tools to improve the efficiency with which crops receive vital nutrients, to protect crops from pests and stressors, and to monitor food safety and quality from farm to fork. Aptamers are DNA strands capable of selective, high affinity binding to a molecular target. They serve as the building blocks for biosensors, as targeting agents for drug delivery, and as inhibitors and therapeutics. The goal of this research program is to develop aptamer tools for advancing precision agriculture and food security through three aims: 1) Rhizosphere biomarker aptamers for biosensing: The thin region of soil in contact with roots, known as the rhizosphere, is a complex environment laden with chemical information about the interplay between the plant, soil, and microbes. The root signals found here are valuable clues for assessing the state of the crop and soil. Aptamer tools for quantifying these compounds could provide useful information on crop health and can be used to monitor and respond to localized crop conditions. This research axis will build on our expertise in aptamer development and their integration into low-cost, point-of-use tests. The combination of our expertise in aptamers and nano-biosensing gives us a solid foundation to develop tools for monitoring these biomarkers in complex soil medium. 2) Plant surface aptamers for targeted delivery: Aptamers have been applied as components of drug-carriers for their ability to deliver therapies to targeted cellular locations, including across biological barriers. Targeting aptamer technology for delivery of chemicals across plant surfaces would improve efficiency of agrochemicals. This research axis will apply our expertise with other delivery aptamers, including those able to cross the blood-brain-barrier, to unlock new transporters for plant treatments. 3) Aptamers for improved stress protection in crops: Crops are susceptible to stresses like heat and drought, and direct injury such as protein aggregates within the plant cells can result. Aptamers able to prevent protein aggregation in crops could be exploited for improving plant stress-tolerance. This research axis will apply our expertise in developing aptamer-based protein aggregation inhibitors for Parkinson's disease to methods to find new tools to help reduce crop losses. Canada has the technology and talent to be the global leader in agricultural innovation. Canada is the world's 5th largest agricultural exporter and agriculture contributes more than $100B annually to our economy. The research proposed here will provide both the fundamental knowledge as well the expert trainees equipped to propel the smart farm of the future.