报告题目：生物粘土——新一代长效无毒环境友好型基因杀虫剂（BioClay - New generation, long-term efficient, non-toxic and environmentally friendly gene-based pesticide）

报告人：Prof Zhi Ping (Gordon) Xu (昆士兰大学、上海大学)

时 间：2017年7月6日 10:00

地 点：校本部东区环化楼401会议室

邀请人：钱光人 教授 （美高梅官网）

欢迎广大师生踊跃参加！

Abstract
In this talk, I will talk about our recent latest breakthrough innovation developing clay nanomaterials for the long term effective delivery of gene-based pesticides against the virus in plants. I will first introduce a clay material, i.e. layered double hydroxide (LDH), and demonstrate their high potential as the drug/gene delivery vehicle. I will then present the details for its use as a vehicle for topical delivery of RNA-based pesticide for plant virus protection. Topical application of naked dsRNA onto plants can only protect the plants from virus invasion for 5 days. Remarkably, once loaded onto LDH, the dsRNA does not wash off, shows sustained release and stays on sprayed leaves for 30 days. Significantly, a single spray of dsRNA-LDH afforded virus protection for at least 20 days for both sprayed and newly grown leaves. This research thus potentially facilitates the RNAi technology from lab to the field trial in the near future without any safety concerns.