Development and evaluation of functionalized gold nanoparticles for the detection of begomovirus in capsicum annuum and lycopersicon esculentum

Abstract

Begomoviruses are a large class of viruses infecting major crops around the world resulting in heavy losses to the farmers Available detection methods are limited by the low viral titres presence of phenolics and expertise in handling equipment Hence gold nanoparticles have been utilized to develop simple and effective detection method for begomovirus based on surface plasmon resonance Total DNA was isolated from plants using Dellaporta method PCR screening of plants with Deng primers was performed AuNP assay for begomovirus detection was performed with functionalized AuNPs (coat protein and rep gene probes Both thiolated and non thiolated probes were used in this study Sensitivity and specificity of AuNP assay was also performed Four different methods for total DNA isolation from chilli and tomato plants were studied and the Dellaporta method was found to be suitable AuNP assay was developed using functionalized AuNPs with probes based on coat protein and rep protein genes of begomoviruses AuNP assay was found to be more effective in detecting begomoviruses in chilli tomato and bean plants than PCR with Deng primers AuNP assay was highly sensitive specific with shorter duration than PCR for begomoviral detection in plants Thiolated coat protein probe clccpi1 thiol of chilli leaf curl virus was able to detect begomoviruses infecting tomato chilli and bean plants Thiolated probes were better than non thiolated probes for viral detection newline newline newline