Randall Chacón-Cerdas

Engineering Atrazine Loaded Poly (lactic-co-glycolic Acid) Nanoparticles to Ameliorate Environmental Challenges

The use of herbicides plays a vital role in controlling weeds and conserving crops; however, its usage generates both environmental and economic problems. For example, herbicides pose a financial issue as farmers must apply large quantities to protect crops due to absorption rates of less than 0.1%. Therefore, there is a great need for the development of new methods to mitigate these issues. Here, we report for the first time the synthesis of poly(lactic- co-glycolic-acid) (PLGA) nanoherbicides loaded with atrazine as an active ingredient. We used potato plants as a biological model to assess the herbicidal activity of the engineered PLGA nanoherbicides. Our method produced nanoherbicides with an average size of 110 ± 10 nm prior to lyophilization. Fifty percent of the loaded atrazine in the PLGA matrix is released in 72 h. Furthermore, we performed Monte Carlo simulations to determine the chemical interaction among atrazine, PLGA, and the solvent system. One of the most significant outcomes of these simulations was to find the formation of a hydrogen bond of 1.9 Å between PLGA and atrazine, which makes this interaction very stable. Our in vitro findings showed that as atrazine concentration is increased in PLGA nanoparticles, potato plants undergo a significant decrease in stem length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, and the number of leaves, with root length being the most affected. These experimental results suggest the herbicidal effectiveness of atrazine-loaded PLGA nanoherbicides in inhibiting the growth of the potato plant. Hence, we present the proof-of-concept for using PLGA nanoherbicides as an alternative method for inhibiting weed growth. Future studies will involve a deep understanding of the mechanism of plant-nanoherbicide interaction as well as the role of PLGA as a growth potentiator.

Aplicación de Cadenas de Markov en un proceso de producción de plantas in vitro

La aplicacion de la biotecnologia incluye una serie de procesos industriales que involucran organismos vivos o partes de ellos. La interaccion del genotipo con los demas factores de manipulacion industrial, aunque controlables, provoca que el sistema sea estocastico o no determinista, caracterizado por acciones predecibles y con elementos aleatorios. La produccion masiva de plantas in vitro es un ejemplo de este tipo de industrias biotecnologicas, en el que se cultivan plantas seleccionadas bajo condiciones controladas de incubacion y en medios nutritivos. Durante el proceso se producen perdidas por contaminacion o muerte del material y reprocesos, cuando las plantas se oxidan o deforman, pero una parte de ellas se puede rescatar y reintegrar a la etapa anterior. Tomando como modelo el proceso de produccion de vitroplantas de papa ( Solanum tuberosum ) en la empresa VitroPlant S.A., se aplico el metodo de Cadenas de Markov para determinar los requerimientos de material vegetal para cumplir con una demanda determinada de acuerdo con la etapa del proceso de la que se inicia, incluyendo en ese calculo las perdidas y reprocesos. Asi, el metodo de Markov es una opcion viable en los procesos biologicos productivos que podria aplicarse a otras especies vegetales e incluso a otros sistemas que utilicen diferentes organismos vivos, tales como hongos, bacterias, insectos y microalgas, todos comunes en la industria.