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Within the framework of plant biostimulation, a pivotal role is played by the achievement of low-cost, easily prepared nanoparticles for priming purposes. Therefore, in this report, two different synthetic strategies are described to engineer zinc oxide nanoparticles with an inulin coating. In both protocols, i.e., two-step and gel-like one-pot protocols, nanoparticles with a highly pure ZnO kernel are obtained when the reaction is carried out at T ≥ 40 °C, as ascertained by XRD and ATR/FTIR studies. However, a uniformly dispersed, highly homogeneous coating is achieved primarily when different temperatures, i.e., 60 °C and 40 °C, are employed in the two phases of the step-wise synthesis. In addition, a different binding mechanism, i.e., complexation, occurs in this case. When the gel-like process is employed, a high degree of coverage by the fructan is attained, leading to micrometric coated aggregates of nanometric particles, as revealed by SEM investigations. All NPs from the two-step synthesis feature electronic bandgaps in the 3.25-3.30 eV range in line with previous studies, whereas the extensive coating causes a remarkable 0.4 eV decrease in the bandgap. Overall, the global analysis of the investigations indicates that the samples synthesized at 60 °C and 40 °C are the best suited for biostimulation. Proof-of-principle assays upon Vicia faba seed priming with Zn5 and Zn5@inu indicated an effective growth stimulation of seedlings at doses of 100 mgKg -1 , with concomitant Zn accumulation in the leaves.

Drastic climate changes over the years have triggered environmental challenges for wild plants and crops due to fluctuating weather patterns worldwide. This has caused different types of stressors, responsible for a decrease in plant life and biological productivity, with consequent food shortages, especially in areas under threat of desertification. Nanotechnology-based approaches have great potential in mitigating environmental stressors, thus fostering a sustainable agriculture. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have demonstrated to be biostimulants as well as remedies to both environmental and biotic stresses. Their administration in the early sowing stages, i.e., seed priming, proved to be effective in improving germination rate, seedling and plant growth and in ameliorating the indicators of plants' well-being. Seed nano-priming acts through several mechanisms such as enhanced nutrients uptake, improved antioxidant properties, ROS accumulation and lipid peroxidation. The target for seed priming by ZnO NPs is mostly crops of large consumption or staple food, in order to meet the increased needs of a growing population and the net drop of global crop frequency, due to climate changes and soil contaminations. The current review focuses on the most recent low-cost, low-sized ZnO NPs employed for seed nano-priming, to alleviate abiotic and biotic stresses, mitigate the negative effects of improper storage and biostimulate plants' growth and well-being. Taking into account that there is large variability among ZnO NPs and that their chemico-physical properties may play a role in determining the efficacy of nano-priming, for all examined cases, it is reported whether the ZnO NPs are commercial or lab prepared. In the latter cases, the preparation conditions are described, along with structural and morphological characterizations. Under these premises, future perspectives and challenges are discussed in relation to structural properties and the possibility of ZnO NPs engineering.

Deep Eutectic Solvents have gained a lot of attention in the last few years because of their vast applicability in a large number of technological processes, the simplicity of their preparation and their high biocompatibility and harmlessness. One of the fields where DES prove to be particularly valuable is the synthesis and modification of inorganic materials-in particular, nanoparticles. In this field, the inherent structural inhomogeneity of DES results in a marked templating effect, which has led to an increasing number of studies focusing on exploiting these new reaction media to prepare nanomaterials. This review aims to provide a summary of the numerous and most recent achievements made in this area, reporting several examples of the newest mixtures obtained by mixing molecules originating from natural feedstocks, as well as linking them to the more consolidated methods that use "classical" DES, such as reline.

An Enzyme Linked ImmunoMagnetic Electrochemical assay (ELIME) was developed for the detection of the hepatitis A virus (HAV). This system is based on the use of new polydopamine-modified magnetic nanobeads as solid support for the immunochemical chain, and an array of 8 screen-printed electrodes as a sensing platform. Enzymatic-by-product is quickly measured by differential pulse voltammetry. For this purpose, all analytical parameters were optimized; in particular, different blocking reagents were evaluated in order to minimize the nonspecific interaction of bioreagents. Using the ELIME assays, a quantitative determination of HAV can be achieved with a detection limit of 1·10 -11 IU mL -1 and a working range between 10 -10 - 5 × 10 -7 IU mL -1 . The cross-reactivity of the commercial monoclonal antibodies against HAV used in ELIME assays was tested for Coxsackie B4, resulting very low. The sensitivity was also investigated and compared with spectrophotometric sandwich ELISA. The average relative standard deviation (RSD) of the ELIME method was less than 5% for the assays performed on the same day, and 7% for the measurements made on different days. The proposed system was applied to the cell culture of HAV, which title was quantified by Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (RT¬qPCR). To compare the results, a correlation between the units used in ELIME (IU mL -1 ) and those used in RT¬qPCR (genome mL -1 ) was established using a HAV-positive sample, resulting in 1 IU mL -1 -10 -4 gen mL -1 (R 2  = 0.978). The ELIME tool exhibits good stability and high biological selectivity for HAV antigen detection and was successfully applied for the determination of HAV in tap water., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Molecular biology techniques allow high sensitivity and specificity in the detection of enteric viruses in various environmental samples, and are considerably less costly and more rapid than traditional analytical methods. Real time RT-PCR technology allows accurate, efficient, and reproducible quantification of viral genes, by amplifying enteroviral RNA directly from an adequately treated environmental sample. It uses different chemical systems, including TaqMan and Syber Green probes, for detection of the amplificon. Both systems allow quantification of the initial number of copies in each cycle by comparing values with those of an external calibration curve (standard curve), generated by serial dilutions of a reference RNA sample with a known concentration. Difficulties in generating a standard curve for each enteric virus however, make standardization of the system time consuming. In an attempt to overcome this obstacle, we used an internal standard with a known concentration, to obtain a valid calibration curve for the quantification of environmental enteroviruses. A comparative analysis was performed with various commercially available extraction and amplification systems to evaluate the method's efficiency and reproducibility.