Sequestration of pyridinium herbicides in plants by carboxylated pillararenes possessing different alkyl chains

An eco-friendly photo-responsive hyaluronic acid-based supramolecular polysaccharide hybrid hydrogels for plant growth regulation and heavy metal ions adsorption

Agrochemicals are widely used in agricultural production, but they may cause agrochemicals residues and environmental pollution. Polysaccharide-based materials have emerged as a promising biopolymer carrier for agrochemicals delivery. Herein, an eco-friendly, photo-responsive supramolecular polysaccharide hybrid hydrogels (HA-AAP-Guano-CD@LP) was constructed from arylazopyrazole-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-AAP), guanidinium functionalized β-cyclodextrin (Guano-CD), and laponite clay (LP) via synergistic host-guest and electrostatic interactions, which could realize the controlled release of plant growth regulators such as naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and gibberellin (GA) and promote the growth of Chinese cabbage and alfalfa. More interestingly, after releasing the cargo, the hydrogels could be used to capture heavy metal ions via strong complexation between the ions and carboxyl groups. This polysaccharide-based supramolecular hybrid hydrogels may provide a new strategy to realize the precision agriculture by the controlled delivery of plant growth regulators and synergetic adsorption of pollutants.

Towards Protection of Nucleic Acids from Herbicide Attack: Self-Assembly of Betaines Based on Pillar[5]arene with Glyphosate and DNA

Herbicides are one of the main parts of pesticides used today. Due to the high efficiency and widespread use of glyphosate-based herbicides, the search for substances reducing their genotoxicity is an important interdisciplinary task. One possible approach for solving the problem of herbicide toxicity is to use compounds that can protect DNA from damage by glyphosate derivatives. For the first time, a method for developing DNA-protecting measures against glyphosate isopropylamine salt (GIS) damage was presented and realized, based on low-toxicity water-soluble pillar[5]arene derivatives. Two- and three-component systems based on pillar[5]arene derivatives, GIS, and model DNA from salmon sperm, as well as their cytotoxicity, were studied. The synthesized pillar[5]arene derivatives do not interact with GIS, while GIS is able to bind DNA from salmon sperm with lgKa = 4.92. The pillar[5]arene betaine derivative containing fragments of L-phenylalanine and the ester derivative with diglycine fragments bind DNA with lgKa = 5.24 and lgKa = 4.88, respectively. The study of the associates (pillar[5]arene-DNA) with GIS showed that the interaction of GIS with DNA is inhibited only by the betaine pillar[5]arene containing fragments of L-Phe (lgKa = 3.60). This study has shown a possible application of betaine pillar[5]arene derivatives for nucleic acid protection according to its competitive binding with biomacromolecules.