An ESIPT-AIE nanosensor for ONOO - imaging: decoding heavy metal stress and ferroptosis in living plants.

Abstract

Peroxynitrite (ONOO - ) serves as a critical redox signaling molecule in plant stress responses and ferroptosis, yet real time monitoring within complex plant matrices remains challenging. To address this, we synthesized a ratiometric nanosensor (DA) through molecular self-assembly. The DA particles (258 nm in diameter) exhibited enhanced sensitivity driven by an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT)-triggered restricted intramolecular motion mechanism, resulting in distinctive aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior. This nanoscale configuration improved tissue penetration and eliminated the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect commonly observed in traditional rhodamine derivatives. Meanwhile, the DA probe featured a large Stokes shift of 167 nm and an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD) of 6.4 nM. Leveraging these optical advantages, the nanosensor enabled real-time visualization of ONOO - dynamics in plant tissues and quantitative assessment of ONOO - accumulation under cadmium (Cd 2+ ), sodium chloride (NaCl), and erastin induced stress. This work represents the first application of an ESIPT-AIE hybrid probe for ONOO - detection in plants, providing a powerful analytical platform for elucidating oxidative stress mechanisms and advancing strategies to enhance crop resilience.

Code and data availability

The article describes an ESIPT-AIE fluorescent nanosensor for ONOO− imaging in plants, but no public phenotype/trait datasets, plant imaging data, author analysis code, or trained models are deposited. The only data statement is 'Data will be made available on request,' and the supplementary file is a DOCX of methods/fi

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.