Molecularly imprinted polymers for tobacco mosaic virus recognition

Molecular imprinted Polymers (MIP) targeted for Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) have been synthesized. Batch equilibrium studies using imprinted and non-imprinted polymer hydrogels in TMV and TNV solutions were conducted to determine virus-binding capacities. TMV-imprinted hydrogels showed increased binding to TMV (8.8 mg TMV/g polymer) compared to non-imprinted hydrogels (4.2 mg TMV/g polymer). Furthermore, TMV-imprinted hydrogels exhibited increased binding to TMV compared to TNV, while non-imprinted hydrogels bound similar amounts of TMV or TNV. This research has demonstrated that molecular imprinting of viruses can be used to selectively induce binding of target viruses based on shape differences of their virions.