Publications
Ang MCY, Saju JM, Sayyid Mohaideen, Dhar N, Sreelatha S, Koyyappurath S, Porter TK, Sánchez-Velázquez G, Amarr VR, Wang S, Khong DT, Loh SI, Strano MS*, Rajani S* (2026) Multiplexed nanosensors for real-time monitoring of VOC-mediated signalling response in plants. Plant, Cell & Environment https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70844 (*corresponding authors).
Ritt CL1, Jiang Y1, Sánchez-Velázquez G, Porter TK, Ang MCY, Khong DT, Sarojam R, Strano MS* (2026) Analysis of Nanosensor-Reported Waveforms for Plant Wounding. Nano Letters 26(13): 4362–4370. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c06366 (1first authors, *corresponding author).
Dhandapani S, Kumar JP, Tan AMX, Vishal B, Agisha VN, Jain E, Nabeela Nasreen SAA, Cheerlavancha Sravanthi G, Chua NH, Pratap Singh G, Ram RJ and Park BS. (2026) Raman spectroscopy enables non-destructive quantification of nitrate in C3 and C4 plants. Frontiers in Plant Science 17: 1858997. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1858997
Sng BJR1, Khong DH1, Porter TK, Strano MS*, Jang I-C* (2026) In vivo detection of IAA using IAA nanosensor. Methods in Molecular Biology https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-5214-5_7 (1first authors, *corresponding authors).
Tan GZH, Koh HYK, Poh ZY, Trusov Y, Krishnamoorthi S, Goh K, Cabral Oliveira C, Botella JR, Urano D* (2026) Cationic amino acid transporters (CAT) enhance accumulation and susceptibility to the systemic herbicide L-phosphinothricin Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66840-3
Koh SS, Goh K, Poh ZY, Tan JJ, Urano D* (2026) LsCLE12 peptide delays senescence in lettuce and prolongs postharvest life of roses Postharvest Biology and Technology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2025.114073
Naohiko Ohama, Teck Lim Moo, KwiMi Chung, Nobutaka Mitsuda, Kulaporn Boonyaves, Daisuke Urano, Nam-Hai Chua. MEDIATOR15 destabilizes DELLA protein to promote gibberellin-mediated plant development (2025) New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20397
Dan Zhang, Haiying Xu, Nam-Hai Chua. Cucumber mosaic virus 2b directs fibrillarin translocation to plasmodesmata to promote viral movement (2025) New Phytologist https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70020
Duc Thinh Khong, Grace Zi Hao Tan, Raju Cheerlavancha, Javier Jingheng Tan, Riza Ahsim, Praveen Kumar Jayapal, Mervin Chun-Yi Ang, Song Wang, Suh In Loh, Gajendra Pratap Singh, Benedetto Marelli, Daisuke Urano, Michael S Strano (2025) Nanosensor for Fe(II) and Fe(III) Allowing Spatiotemporal Sensing in Planta. Nano Letters https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05600
Shilpi Gupta, Chung Hao Huang, Gajendra Pratap Singh, Bong Soo Park, Nam-Hai Chua and Rajeev J. Ram: Portable Raman leaf-clip sensor for rapid detection of plant stress, Nature, article number: 20206(2020)
Benny Jian Rong Sng, Gajendra Pratap Singh, Kien Van Vu, Nam‑Hai Chua, Rajeev J. Ram and In‑Cheol Jang: Rapid metabolite response in leaf blade and petiole as a marker for shade avoidance syndrome, Plant Methods, 2020, 16:144
Ma, Xiaoqiang, Gökalp Gözaydın, Huiying Yang, Wenbo Ning, Xi Han, Nga Yu Poon, Hong Liang, Ning Yan, and Kang Zhou. “Upcycling chitin-containing waste into organonitrogen chemicals via an integrated process.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 14 (2020): 7719-7728.
Liu, Yurou, Zhen Jie Low, Xiaoqiang Ma, Hong Liang, Gregory Stephanopoulos, Anthony J. Sinskey, and Kang Zhou. “Using biopolymer bodies for encapsulation of hydrophobic products in bacterium.” Metabolic Engineering, in press (2020).
Real-time detection of wound-induced H2O2 signalling waves in plants with optical nanosensors, April 15, 2020, Nature Plants
Early diagnosis and management of nitrogen deficiency in plants utilizing Raman spectroscopy, February 2020, Frontiers in Plant Sci.
Tiny sensors allowing observation of plant growth may help urban farms, August 17, 2019, Straits Time
Ma, Xiaoqiang, Hong Liang, Xiaoyi Cui, Yurou Liu, Hongyuan Lu, Wenbo Ning, Nga Yu Poon, Benjamin Ho, and Kang Zhou. “A standard for near-scarless plasmid construction using reusable DNA parts.” Nature communications 10, no. 1 (2019): 1-12.
Rational Design Principles for the Transport and Subcellular Distribution of Nanomaterials into Plant Protoplasts, Small, 14, 2018
Media
Michael Strano’s interview in Earth Island Journal…
To post on 13 Jul, https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/engineered-glowing-plants-nanotech-environment/
DiSTAP Co-lead Principal Investigator Michael Strano spoke to Earth Island Journal (tag) earlier this year about the work his team at the Strano Research Group in MIT has been doing to create light-emitting plants.
The research team has already successfully modified some species of plants to emit light for a period of time, and their project could lead to future plants that can help illuminate indoor or outdoor spaces.
Read more below in this in-depth piece about the light-emitting plants.
#SMARTMIT #MIT #innovation #research #DiSTAP #agriculture #urbanfarming #glowingplants #engineeredplants
Singapore is shifting cultivation indoors.
TLL and DiSTAP, CNA, 2020
CNBC Interview – Michael Strano – Digitalization of agriculture can help solve food crisis, April 24, 2020
Exclusive: Can urban farming help combat climate change? DiSTAP director says ‘Yes’, International Business Times, Singapore, August 28, 2019
Scientists’ work on microbes may boost farming research, The Straits Times, August 23, 2019
CNA Singapore Tonight Interview with Michael Strano, August 15, 2019
CNA938 Singapore Today Weekend Radio interview with Michael Strano, August 17, 2019
Natural products produced by fermentation hold potential to help Singapore’s farming economy grow, Asia Pacific Biotech News, 2019