Targeted Drug Delivery in Plants: Enzyme-Responsive Lignin Nanocarriers for the Curative Treatment of the Worldwide Grapevine Trunk Disease Esca.

ABSTRACT: Nanocarrier (NC)-mediated drug delivery is widely researched in medicine but to date has not been used in agriculture. The first curative NC-based treatment of the worldwide occurring grapevine trunk disease Esca, with more than 2 billion infected plants causing a loss yearly of $1.5 billion, is presented. To date, only repetitive spraying of fungicides is used to reduce chances of infection. This long-term treatment against Esca uses minimal amounts of fungicide encapsulated in biobased and biodegradable lignin NCs. A single trunk injection of <10 mg fungicide results in curing of an infected plant. Only upon Esca infection, ligninolytic enzymes, secreted by the Esca-associated fungi, degrade the lignin NC to release the fungicide. The specific antifungal activity is confirmed in vitro an

SUBMITTER: Fischer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685467 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature