Coatings of biomolecules—biomolecular corona—acquired when nanoparticles interact with biological media, have been shown to influence the distribution, fate, and toxicity of nanoparticles in animal and bacterial systems. Mechanistic insight into the influence of biomolecular coronas on nanoparticle transport within plants is needed to understand the nanoparticle–plant interactions important for both the development of nano-enabled agriculture and to assess the impacts of inadvertent exposure to nanoparticles. We examined the interactions between copper oxide nanoparticles and pumpkin xylem fluid as a first step toward understanding biomolecular corona formation in plant vasculature systems. We find the corona formed is composed primarily of proteins,  despite a higher concentration of carbohydrates in xylem fluid, and the most abundant proteins in the corona are not the most abundant ones in the xylem fluid. Additionally, the nanoparticle corona evolves over time with protein–nanoparticle interactions exhibiting long-term stability, while carbohydrate–nanoparticle interactions are mostly transient.

Biomolecular corona formation on copper oxide nanoparticles in pumpkin xylem fluid

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.