Amyloid‐Like Protein Aggregation Toward Pesticide Reduction

Abstract

Pesticide overuse is a major global problem and the cause of this problem is noticeable pesticide loss from undesired bouncing of sprayed pesticide droplets and rain erosion. This further becomes a primary source of soil and groundwater pollution. Herein, the authors report a method that can enhance pesticide droplet deposition and adhesion on superhydrophobic plant leave surfaces by amyloid‐like aggregation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Through the reduction of the disulfide bond of BSA by tris(2‐carboxyethyl) phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP), the amyloid‐like phase transition of BSA is triggered that rapidly affords abundant phase‐transitioned BSA (PTB) oligomers to facilitate the invasion of the PTB droplet into the nanostructures on a leaf surface. Such easy penetration is further followed by a robust amyloid‐mediated interfacial adhesion of PTB on leaf surface. As a result, after mixing with pesticides, the PTB system exhibits a remarkable pesticide adhesion capacity that is more than 10 times higher than conventional fixation of commercial pesticides. The practical farmland experiments show that the use of PTB aggregation could reduce the use of pesticides by 70–90% while ensuring yield. This work demonstrates that current pesticide dosage in actual agriculture production may be largely reduced by utilizing eco‐friendly amyloid‐like protein aggregation.

Identifying 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine without Sequence Specificity Using MOF-Derived MnOxSy Nanoflowers for Boosting Electrochemiluminescence

“…Subsequently, to obtain the cross-shaped DNA tracks, equal mole ratios (8 μM) of ferrocene-labeled ssDNA 1 (S1-Fc), ssDNA 2 (S2), sulfhydryl-labeled ssDNA 3 (S3-SH), and ssDNA 4 (S4) in DNA hybridization buffer were mixed, and then heated at 95 °C for 5 min and immediately cooled to 4 °C. To prevent the formation of dimer structures with disulfide bonds, 1 μL of the tris-(2-carboxyethyl)-phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP, 1 mM) solution was added to 20 μL of the cross-shaped DNA track solution and activated at room temperature for 0.5 h. Following, 10 μL of the cross-shaped DNA track solution was incubated onto the resultant electrode and dried at 37 °C for 4 h, achieving the cross-shaped DNA tracks/Au NPs/MnO x S y NFs/GCE via the Au–S bond. After washing with deionized water, the fabricated electrode was treated with 10 μL of 1 mM hexanethiol (HT) for 1 h to prevent nonspecific bindings.…”

Recent advances in the design of controlled- and sustained-release micro/nanocarriers of pesticide

“…Fortunately, controlled- and sustained-release micro/nanocarriers can handle the challenge of pesticide overuse. 10,11…”

“…Fortunately, controlled-and sustained-release micro/nanocarriers can handle the challenge of pesticide overuse. 10,11 Controlled-and sustained-release micro/nanocarriers are generally composed of stimuli-responsive triggers and nanomaterials, which encapsulate or physically wrap AIs (Scheme 1). 12,13 Usually, the carriers exist in the forms of nanoemulsions, nanomicelles, micro/nanocapsules, nanogels, dendrimers, core-shell structures and so on.…”

Biodegradable and Light-Responsive Polymeric Nanoparticles for Environmentally Safe Herbicide Delivery

“…Many methods have been reported to resolve the problem of undesired pesticide loss by now. For example, methods to enhance the adhesion of pesticides on the surfaces of plant leaves have been widely used to reduce the loss of pesticides which is due to the rebounding and splashing of pesticide droplets and rain erosion. − Nanotechnology has emerged as an effective and promising method to prevent pesticide loss and improve utilization efficiency. − Although these methods effectively resolve the problem of undesired pesticide loss, it is still a challenge to achieve pesticide release in a spatial- and temporal-controlled manner. Controlled-release pesticide systems, which can achieve on-demand release of pesticides and extend the valid time of the pesticides, have attracted growing attention in the last decade. , Various kinds of materials, including polymers, − inorganic materials ,,− and nanocomposites, − were used as carriers to load pesticides.…”