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SUMMARY:Plant Bioelectronics and Plant Biohybrids - Dr Eleni Stravrinidou 
 - Laboratory of Organic Electronics\, Linkoping University\, Sweden
DTSTART:20200123T110000Z
DTEND:20200123T120000Z
UID:TALK134350@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Kirsty Shepherd
DESCRIPTION:Plants are the basis of food\, providers of oxygens and regula
 tors of the ecosystem. In my group we are interfacing electronics with pla
 nts. Our first goal is to develop bioelectronic technologies that will hel
 p elucidate plants processes with special focus on plant adaptation to env
 ironmental stress. Deciphering these processes is critical for engineering
  plants with enhanced tolerance to stress\, especially in the rapidly chan
 ging climate. Recently we presented a miniaturized organic electronic ion 
 pump\, an electrophoretic controlled delivery device\, for in-vivo deliver
 y of phytohormones with high spatio-temporal resolution. The capillary bas
 ed OEIP is implanted into the leaf of intact plants without significant wo
 und response. We demonstrated efficient delivery of the phytohormone Absci
 sic Acid\, ABA\, one of the main hormones that mediates plant responses to
  stress. ABA induced the closure of stomata\, the microscopic pores in lea
 ves that regulate water loss and gas exchange. Our study revealed kinetics
  of ABA signal propagation that were not observed before. We are also deve
 loping sensors based on organic electrochemical transistors for monitoring
  metabolites in in-vitro and in-vivo plant systems with time resolution th
 at outperforms conventional methods. The second part of my talk is dedicat
 ed to plant biohybrid systems. With conjugated oligomers introduced into t
 he plant we are developing electronic devices within its structure. We dem
 onstrated that the oligomers polymerize in-vivo forming conductors\, in pa
 rallel with the growth of the plant. The polymerization process is driven 
 from lignification integrating the conducting polymers into the cell wall.
  The biohybrid system is further explored in energy applications. 
LOCATION:Electrical Engineering\, Department of Engineering - EED Seminar 
 Room - 9 JJ Thomson Avenue\, Cambridge\, CB3 0FA
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