SINGAPORE, 21 May 2025: In a breakthrough that could redefine precision agriculture, researchers have developed the world’s first species-agnostic nanosensor capable of non-invasive, real-time detection of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)—the primary form of auxin, a hormone essential to plant growth and stress response.
Auxins play a crucial role in regulating plant development, including cell division, shoot elongation, root formation, and response to environmental stressors like heat and light. Monitoring auxin levels offers critical insights into plant health, making it an invaluable metric for crop yield optimization and sustainable farming.
Developed by the Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) interdisciplinary research group under the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and MIT, this nanosensor employs Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe) and near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence to detect IAA without harming plants or requiring genetic modification.
Unlike traditional IAA detection methods such as liquid chromatography, which require destructive sampling, this real-time plant diagnostics tool works across different species—allowing farmers to monitor auxin levels in crops like spinach, choy sum, Arabidopsis, and tobacco without altering their genome.
The nanosensor integrates seamlessly with current farming systems, enabling data-driven decisions on irrigation, nutrient delivery, and stress management. Its NIR-based approach bypasses interference from chlorophyll, making it suitable for use in high-pigment plant tissues and dense foliage.
“This innovation is a major leap in agricultural biotechnology,” said Prof. Michael Strano, Co-Lead Principal Investigator at DiSTAP. “It allows early detection of plant stress and offers farmers and researchers a deeper look into plant-environment interactions, essential for addressing global food insecurity and climate change.”
Tested under diverse conditions like heat, shade, and low light, the sensor tracks how auxin levels shift in response to external stimuli. With future plans to integrate microneedles and multiplexed sensing systems, researchers aim to build a full hormonal map that supports precision agriculture at an unprecedented level.
The research was published in ACS Nano, under the title “A Near-Infrared Fluorescent Nanosensor for Direct and Real-Time Measurement of Indole-3-Acetic Acid in Plants.” It is supported by Singapore’s National Research Foundation under the CREATE programme.
This development marks a significant advancement in smart farming tools, potentially transforming how farmers cultivate crops, optimize growth conditions, and boost stress tolerance—ensuring higher productivity and more resilient agriculture worldwide.
