A great number of agriculturally important crops are attacked by fungal diseases. Chitin, a major constituent of fungal cell walls, induces innate plant immunity pathways by binding to plant cell surface receptors. Therefore, developing a fundamental understanding of how chitin interacts with receptors will provide a more complete picture of plant disease. Recent advancements of optical biosensors, including Whispering Gallery Mode microsphere optical resonators, could provide a highly sensitive method to determine the kinetic parameters of binding interactions. Here, we report our initial work on these studies.  First, we demonstrate the successful attachment of chitin polymers to the surface of the silica microsphere biosensor platform using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Second, we discuss the impact of surface functionalization on the sensitivity of the devices via quality factor analysis. Third, we present initial studies on the interaction of the surface-bound chitin with lectin, a well studied chitin binding protein.

??Using microscale optical biosensors to elucidate binding kinetic parameters between the plant defense response elicitor chitin and chitin binding proteins???

245th National Meeting (2013)

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