Diurnal in vivo xylem sap glucose and sucrose monitoring using implantable organic electrochemical transistor sensors

Abstract

Bioelectronic devices that convert biochemical signals to electronic readout enable biosensing with high spatiotemporal resolution. These technologies have been primarily applied in biomedicine while in plants sensing is mainly based on invasive methods that require tissue sampling, hindering in-vivo detection and having poor spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we developed enzymatic biosensors based on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) for in-vivo and real-time monitoring of sugar fluctuations in the vascular tissue of trees. The glucose and sucrose OECT-biosensors were implanted into the vascular tissue of trees and were operated through a low-cost portable unit for 48hr. Our work consists a proof-of-concept study where implantable OECT-biosensors not only allow real-time monitoring of metabolites in plants but also reveal new insights into diurnal sugar homeostasis. We anticipate that this work will contribute to establishing bioelectronic technologies as powerful minimally invasive tools in plant science, agriculture and forestry.

Published in

iScience
2021, volume: 24, number: 1, article number: 101966
Publisher: CELL PRESS

SLU Authors

• Abedi, Tayebeh

  • Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Niittylä, Totte

  • Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101966

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111191