Nucleic Acid Loading of Silica-Derived Nanoparticles for Plant Pathogen Management
The rise of food insecurity has become a global issue, affecting low- and middle-income families worldwide. Furthermore, population predictions expect to increase to 9.8 billion people by 2050; thus, there is a need to double food production to meet growing demands. One avenue of focus to combat food insecurity is targeting crop pathogens that affect crop quality and health. Managing food pathogens can increase food production and aid in this global issue. Potatoes are one of the world’s most important food crops affected by Potato virus Y (PVY). It is potatoes’ most detrimental pathogen due to its spreadability and mutability. PVY causes several symptoms, such as leaf chlorosis, tuber necrosis, or plant death. Hence, this research project aims to utilize antiviral silencing methods in combination with nanoparticle (NP) carriers to suppress PVY in potato crops. Silica-derived nanoparticle (SiO2 NPs) surfaces can be functionalized to fine-tune their charge and size, making them useful in drug delivery, catalysis, and separations. Previous studies have also shown that these SiO2 NPs improve disease resistance in plants. Ultraporous mesostructured nanoparticles (UMNs), were synthesized, characterized, and loaded with double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), characteristic of that expressed by PVY, to evaluate their loading capacity as carriers for delivery into PVY-infected potato plants. Three types of UMNs, one bare and two surface-functionalized, were tested across varying NP and dsDNA concentrations. There were differences between UMNs, but there was an inverse relationship between loading capacity and loading efficiency. Future work will include optimization of these SiO2 NPs dissolution and DNA release to determine conditions for disease suppression.