Carleton University

University of Alberta

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, As Represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food

Maria Cynthia Derosa

Juan Schneider

Phillip Choi

Phepafatso Tsae

Joshua Parker Callahan

Carlos Monreal

Francisco Matus

Matthew Richard Holahan

Emily Mastronardi

Vernon Harold Daniel Hunt

Erin Marie McConnell

Katelyn Victoria Ventura

A system for delivering fertilizer to the roots of a plant includes coated fertilizer particles. The coating can include a cellulose derivative, optionally a fatty acid, and a component, such as an aptamer, which binds specifically to a material, such as serine, which is released by the roots of the plant when the plant is actively taking up nutrients from the soil. The permeability of the coating increases when the coated particles are exposed to the material released by the roots of the plant. Thus, nutrient release from the coated fertilizer particles is synchronized with uptake of the nutrients by the plant during active growth. Advantages of the system may include one or more of improved nitrogen use efficiency by the plant, improved crop productivity, and/or reduced leaching of fertilizer from the soil.

Root exudate-activated system for agrochemical delivery

The present disclosure relates generally to the selection of DNA aptamers that prevent aggregation, or fibrilization of alpha-synuclein protein. The aptamers described herein are of use as a therapeutic tool to prevent protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease.

Aptamers as a therapeutic tool to prevent protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease

Growing community of inventors

Ottawa, Canada

Maria Cynthia Derosa