Temperature-Responsive Bottlebrush Polymers Deliver a Stress-Regulating Agent <i>In Vivo</i> for Prolonged Plant Heat Stress Mitigation
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acssuschemeng.2c06461.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
8.64 MB
Format
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Zhang, Yilin
Fu, Liye
Martinez, Michael R
Sun, Hui
Nava, Valeria
Yan, Jiajun
Ristroph, Kurt
Averick, Saadyah E
Marelli, Benedetto
Giraldo, Juan Pablo
Date Issued
February 27, 2023
Journal
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Citation
Zhang, Yilin, Fu, Liye, Martinez, Michael R, Sun, Hui, Nava, Valeria et al. 2023. "Temperature-Responsive Bottlebrush Polymers Deliver a Stress-Regulating Agent In Vivo for Prolonged Plant Heat Stress Mitigation." ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 11 (8).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Anticipated increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme temperatures will damage crops. Methods that efficiently deliver stress-regulating agents to crops can mitigate these effects. Here, we describe high aspect ratio polymer bottlebrushes for temperature-controlled agent delivery in plants. The foliar-applied bottlebrush polymers had near complete uptake into the leaf and resided in both the apoplastic regions of the leaf mesophyll and in cells surrounding the vasculature. Elevated temperature enhanced the in vivo release of spermidine (a stress-regulating agent) from the bottlebrushes, promoting tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum) photosynthesis under heat and light stress. The bottlebrushes continued to provide protection against heat stress for at least 15 days after foliar application, whereas free spermidine did not. About 30% of the ∼80 nm short and ∼300 nm long bottlebrushes entered the phloem and moved to other plant organs, enabling heat-activated release of plant protection agents in phloem. These results indicate the ability of the polymer bottlebrushes to release encapsulated stress relief agents when triggered by heat to provide long-term protection to plants and the potential to manage plant phloem pathogens. Overall, this temperature-responsive delivery platform provides a new tool for protecting plants against climate-induced damage and yield loss.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06461
