Patent Application: US-201113081435-A

Abstract:
the present invention relates to specific delivery of agrochemicals to plants . more specifically , it relates to a composition , essentially consisting of a targeting agent comprising at least one binding domain that specifically binds to a binding site on an intact living plant and an agrochemical or a combination of agrochemicals . the present invention relates further to a binding domain that specifically binds the binding site on an intact living plant . more specifically , it relates to binding domains comprising an amino acid sequence that comprises four framework regions and three complementary determining regions , or any suitable fragment thereof , whereby the binding domains are capable to bind or retain a carrier onto a plant . in one preferred embodiment , the invention relates to binding domains which specifically bind trichomes , stomata , cuticle , lenticels , thorns , spines , root hairs , or wax layer . the invention relates further to a method for delivery of agrochemicals to a plant , for improving the deposition of agrochemicals on a plant , and for retaining the agrochemicals on a plant , using targeting agents comprising the binding domains , and to a method for protecting a plant against biotic or abiotic stress or controlling plant growth using the same . also , the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a specifically targeting agrochemical carrier .

Description:
immunization of llamas with gum arabic , potato leaf homogenate , or wheat leaf homogenate a solution of gum arabic was prepared by weighing 5 g of gum arabic from acacia tree ( sigma ) and dissolving in 50 ml water . bradford protein assay was used to determine the total protein concentration . aliquots were made , stored at − 80 ° c ., and used for immunization . homogenized leaves from potato plants ( solanum tuberosum variety désirée ) or wheat plants ( triticum aestivum variety boldus ) were prepared by freezing leaves in liquid nitrogen and homogenizing the leaves with mortar and pestle until a fine powder was obtained . bradford protein assay was used to determine the total protein concentration . aliquots were made , stored at − 80 ° c ., and suspensions were used for immunization . llamas were immunized at weekly intervals with six intramuscular injections of gum arabic , homogenized potato leaves , or homogenized wheat leaves , according to standard procedures . two llamas , “ 404334 ” and “ lahaïana ,” were immunized with gum arabic . three llamas , “ 407928 ,” “ chilean autumn ,” and “ niagara ,” were immunized with homogenized potato leaves and another two llamas , “ 33733 ” and “ organza ,” were immunized with homogenized wheat leaves . llamas “ 404334 ,” “ 407928 ,” and “ 33733 ” were immunized using adjuvant lq ( gerbu ), and llamas “ lahaïana ,” “ chilean autumn ,” “ niagara ” and “ organza ” were immunized using freund &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant ( fia ). doses for immunization of llama “ 404334 ” were 350 μg for each day 0 , 7 , 14 , 21 , 28 , 35 , and peripheral blood lymphocytes ( pbl ) were collected at day 40 . doses for immunizations of llamas “ 407928 ” and “ 33733 ” were 1 mg for each day 0 , 7 , 14 , 21 , 28 , 36 , and pbl were collected at day 40 . at time of pbl collection at day 40 , sera of llamas “ 404334 ,” “ 407928 ,” and “ 33733 ” were collected . doses for immunizations of llamas “ lahaïana ,” “ chilean autumn ,” “ niagara ,” and “ organza ” were 100 μg for day 0 , and 50 μg for days 7 , 14 , 21 , 28 , and 35 . at day 0 , day 25 , and at time of pbl collection at day 38 , sera of llamas “ lahaïana ,” “ chilean autumn ,” “ niagara ,” and “ organza ” were collected . library construction — from each immunized llama a separate vhh library was made . rna was isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes , followed by cdna synthesis using random hexamer primers and superscript iii according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions ( invitrogen ). a first pcr was performed to amplify vhh and vh using a forward primer mix [ 1 : 1 ratio of cal1001 ( 5 ′- gtcctggctgctatctacaagg - 3 ′) and cal1001b ( 5 ′- cctggctgctatctacaaggtg - 3 ′)] and reverse primer cal1002 ( 5 ′- ggtacgtgctgttgaactgttcc - 3 ′). after isolation of the vhh fragments a second pcr was performed using forward primer a6e ( 5 ′- gatgtgcagctgcaggagtctggrggagg - 3 ′) and reverse primer 38 ( 5 ′- ggactagtgcggccgctggagacggtgacctgggt - 3 ′). the pcr fragments were digested using psti and eco91i restriction enzymes ( fermentas ), and ligated upstream of the piii gene in vector pmes4 ( genbank : gq907248 . 1 ). the ligation products were ethanol precipitated according to standard protocols , resuspended in water , and electroporated into tg1 cells . library sizes ranged from 1e + 08 to 6e + 08 independent clones . single colony pcr on randomly picked clones from the libraries was performed to assess insert percentages of the libraries . all libraries had ≧ 90 % insert percentages except for the library from immunized llama “ organza ” which had an insert percentage of 80 %. libraries were numbered 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 for llamas “ 404334 ,” “ 407928 ,” “ 33733 ,” “ chilean autumn ,” “ lahaïana ,” “ niagara ,” and “ organza ,” respectively . phage from each of the libraries were produced using vcsm13 helper phage according to standard procedures . phage selections against gum arabic , plant epidermal extracts , or whole leaves . a solution of gum arabic was prepared by weighing 5 g of gum arabic and dissolving in 50 ml water . aliquots were made and stored at − 20 ° c . until use . extracts of potato plant cuticle and adhering epidermis were prepared from thin strips from stems of potato plants . extracts of wheat plant cuticle and adhering epidermis were prepared from thin strips from wheat sheath leaves . extracts enriched in cell - wall glycans and non - cellulosic polysaccharides were sequentially extracted using cdta and naoh ( moller et al ., 2007 ), respectively . strips were frozen in liquid nitrogen and ground with mortar and pestle until fine powders were obtained . cell - wall glycans - enriched extracts were prepared by resuspending the fine powders in 50 mm cdta ph6 . 5 using 10 ml per gram of ground material and head - over - head rotation at 4 ° c . for 30 minutes . extract and insoluble material were separated using a syringe adapted with a filter . the extracts were further cleared by centrifugation in a micro centrifuge at 20 , 000 g for 5 minutes . non - cellulosic polysaccharide - enriched extracts were prepared from the insoluble material after cdta extraction in 4 m naoh and 1 % nabh 4 using 10 ml per gram of insoluble material and head - over - head rotation at 4 ° c . for 30 minutes . extract and insoluble material were separated using a syringe adapted with a filter . the extracts were further cleared by centrifugation in a micro centrifuge at 20 , 000 g for 5 minutes . first round selections against gum arabic were performed in wells of a 96 - well plate ( maxisorp , nunc ) coated with 1 mg / ml or 10 μg / ml gum arabic in 0 . 1 m carbonate buffer ph 8 . 3 . coatings were performed at 4 ° c . overnight . wells were washed three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs ( 5 % mpbs ). phage were suspended in 2 . 5 % mpbs and approximately 2e + 11 cfu were used for each well . after binding to the wells at room temperature for 2 hours , unbound phage were removed by extensive washing with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and pbs . bound phage were eluted at room temperature with 0 . 1 mg / ml trypsin ( sigma ) in pbs for 30 minutes . eluted phage were transferred to a polypropylene 96 - well plate ( nunc ) containing excess aebsf trypsin inhibitor ( sigma ). the titers of phage from target - coated wells were compared to titers of phage from blank wells to assess enrichments . phage were amplified using fresh tg1 cells according to standard procedures . the second selection round was performed similarly to the first selection round except that for libraries 25 and 30 wells were coated with 10 μg / ml and 0 . 1 μg / ml gum arabic instead of 1 mg / ml and 10 μg / ml . no significant enrichments were obtained for libraries 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , and 32 in selection round 1 . in selection round 2 , enrichments were & gt ; 1000 - fold for libraries 28 , 31 , and 32 , and 25 - fold and 250 - fold for libraries 27 and 29 , respectively . enrichments for libraries 25 and 30 were 50 - fold and & gt ; 1000 - fold in selection round 1 , respectively . in selection round 2 , enrichments were 1000 - fold for both libraries . selections against potato epidermal cdta extract were performed similarly to the selections against gum arabic but wells were coated with ten - fold and 1000 - fold diluted potato epidermal cdta extract for both the first and second selection rounds . enrichments in selection round 1 were 10 , 1e + 03 , 20 , 20 , & gt ; 1e + 04 , 15 , and five - fold for libraries 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , respectively and & gt ; 100 - fold for all libraries in selection round 2 . selections against wheat epidermal cdta extract were performed similarly to the selections against potato epidermal cdta extract but wells were coated with 20 - fold and 2000 - fold diluted wheat epidermal cdta extract for both the first and second selection rounds . enrichments in selection round 1 were & gt ; 10 , & gt ; 100 , & gt ; 10 , 1 , & gt ; 1e + 03 , 10 , and five - fold for libraries 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , respectively . enrichments in selection round 2 were & gt ; ten - fold for library 29 and & gt ; 100 - fold for libraries 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , and 32 . selections against potato leaves were performed in two consecutive selection rounds using leaf particles in round 1 and whole leaves in round 2 . libraries 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , and 32 were used for selections against leaves . the leaf particles for first round selections were prepared by blending potato leaves in pbs using an ultra - turrax t25 homogenizer . the leaf particles were collected from the suspension by centrifugation . the supernatant , called herein “ homogenized leaf soluble fraction ,” is assumingly enriched in intracellular components and was used in solution during phage selection to compete out binders to intracellular epitopes . library phage were pre - incubated with the homogenized leaf soluble fraction in 2 % mpbs using head - over - head rotation at room temperature for 30 minutes . the mixtures were added to leaf particles and incubated with head - over - head rotation at room temperature for 2 hours . leaf particles with bound phage were collected by centrifugation and supernatants were discarded . leaf particles with bound phage were washed extensively by consecutive washes with pbs . washes were performed by resuspending leaf particles in pbs , spinning down leaf particles , and discarding supernatants . elution of phage and infection of tg1 were performed as before . for the second selection round whole intact leaves were used . leaves were incubated floating upside - down on phage solutions in 2 % mpbs and phage were allowed to bind at room temperature for 2 hours . the leaves were washed extensively by transferring leaves to fresh tubes with pbs . elution of bound phage was performed with 100 mm tea in water , and solutions with eluted phage were neutralized using half of the eluted phage volume of 1 m tris ph 7 . 5 . infection of tg1 was performed as before . picking single colonies from selection outputs — individual clones were picked from first and second round selections against gum arabic with libraries 25 and 30 . from selections against gum arabic with libraries 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , and 32 , clones were picked after second round selections but not first round selections . a total of 208 clones was picked from gum arabic selections . from selections against potato epidermal cdta extract a total of 321 clones was picked after both first and second round selections from all libraries . from selections against wheat epidermal cdta extract a total of 162 clones was picked after second round selections from all libraries . from potato leaf selections a total of 184 clones was picked after second round selections from libraries 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , and 32 . fresh tg1 cells were infected with serially diluted eluted phage and plated on lb agar ; 2 % glucose ; 100 μg / ml ampicillin . single colonies were picked in 96 - well plates containing 100 μl per well 2 × ty ; 10 % glycerol ; 2 % glucose ; 100 μg / ml ampicillin . plates were incubated at 37 ° c . and stored at − 80 ° c . as master plates . single - point binding elisa — a single - point binding elisa was used to identify clones that bind to gum arabic or plant extracts . vhh - containing extracts for elisa were prepared as follows . 96 - well plates with 100 μl per well 2 × ty , 2 % glucose 100 μg / ml ampicillin were inoculated from the master plates and grown at 37 ° c . overnight . 25 μl per well of overnight culture was used to inoculate fresh 96 - well deep - well plates containing 1 ml per well 2 × ty ; 0 . 1 % glucose ; 100 μg / ml ampicillin . after growing at 37 ° c . in a shaking incubator for 3 hours , iptg was added to 1 mm final concentration and recombinant vhh was produced during an additional incubation for 4 hours . cells were spun down by centrifugation at 3 , 000 g for 20 minutes and stored at − 20 ° c . overnight . cell pellets were thawed , briefly vortexed , and 125 μl per well of room temperature pbs was added . cells were resuspended on an elisa shaker platform at room temperature for 15 minutes . plates were centrifuged at 3 , 000 g for 20 minutes and 100 μl per well of vhh - containing extract was transferred to polypropylene 96 - well plates ( nunc ) and stored at − 20 ° c . until further use . binding of clones from gum arabic selections was analyzed in elisa plates coated with 100 μl / well gum arabic at 1 mg / ml in carbonate buffer ph 8 . 3 . binding of clones from potato epidermal cdta extract selections was analyzed on both potato epidermal cdta extract and wheat epidermal cdta extract using elisa plates coated with 100 μl per well of 30 - fold diluted potato and 30 - fold wheat epidermal cdta extracts in 0 . 1 m carbonate ph 8 . 3 . binding of clones from wheat epidermal cdta extract selections was analyzed using elisa plates coated with 100 μl per well of 20 - fold diluted wheat epidermal cdta extract in 0 . 1 m carbonate ph 8 . 3 . after coating at 4 ° c . overnight and continued coating at room temperature for 1 hour on the next day , plates were washed three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 . 5 hours . plates were emptied and filled with 90 μl per well 1 % mpbs . 10 μl of vhh - containing extract from each clone was added to ( an ) antigen - coated well ( s ) and a blank well . vhh were allowed to bind at room temperature for 1 hour and unbound vhh were removed by washing three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . bound vhh were detected with sequential incubations with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies ( abd serotec ) in 1 % mpbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and rabbit anti - mouse igg whole molecule antibodies conjugated with alkaline phosphatase ( ram / ap ) ( sigma ) in 1 % mpbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . unbound antibodies were removed by washing three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . the plates were washed an additional two times with pbs and 100 μl pnpp disodium hexahydrate substrate ( sigma ) was added to each well . the absorbance at 405 nm was measured and the ratio of vhh bound to ( a ) target - coated well ( s ) and a non - target - coated well was calculated for each clone . 23 % of clones had a ratio greater than 2 and these clones were firstly picked for more detailed characterization . a second group of clones with a ratio between 1 . 15 and 2 , and comprising 10 % of all clones , was revisited later . clones with a ratio less than 1 . 15 were not analyzed further . for clones from whole leaf selections an adapted elisa was developed . upside - down floating leaf discs were used instead of coating wells with antigen . incubations were similar to the extracts elisa . after incubation with the substrate the leaf discs were removed from the wells using a forceps and the absorbance at 405 nm was measured . signals obtained for each clone were compared to signals obtained from wells with leaf discs without primary antibody incubation and the ratios were calculated . a leaf surface - binding antibody that was found and characterized from epidermal extract selections was used as positive control antibody . vhh with a ratio greater than 1 . 5 were analyzed further by sequencing . single colony pcr and sequencing — single colony pcr and sequencing was performed on elisa positive clones as follows . cultures from master plate wells with elisa positive clones were diluted ten - fold in sterile water . 5 μl from these diluted clones were used as template for pcr using forward primer mp57 ( 5 ′- ttatgcttccggctcgtatg - 3 ′) and reverse primer giii ( 5 ′- ccacagacagccctcatag - 3 ′). pcr products were sequenced by sanger - sequencing using primer mp57 ( vib genetic service facility , university of antwerp , belgium ). antibody production and purification — vhh antibody fragments were produced in e . coli suppressor strain tg1 or non - suppressor strain wk6 ( fritz et al ., nucleic acids research , volume 16 number 14 1988 ) according to standard procedures . briefly , colony streaks were made and overnight cultures from single colonies inoculated in 2 × ty ; 2 % glucose ; 100 μg / ml ampicillin . the overnight cultures were used to inoculate fresh cultures 1 : 100 in 2 × ty ; 0 . 1 % glucose ; 100 μg / ml ampicillin . after growing at 37 ° c . in a shaking incubator for 3 hours , iptg was added to a 1 mm final concentration and recombinant vhh antibody fragments were produced during an additional incubation for 4 hours . cells were spun down and resuspended in 1 / 50 th of the original culture volume of periplasmic extraction buffer ( 50 mm phosphate ph 7 ; 1 m nacl ; 1 mm edta ) and incubated with head - over - head rotation at 4 ° c . overnight . spheroplasts were spun down by centrifugation at 3 , 000 g and 4 ° c . for 20 minutes . supernatants were transferred to fresh tubes and centrifuged again at 3 , 000 g and 4 ° c . for 20 minutes . hexahistidine - tagged vhh antibody fragments were purified from the periplasmic extract using 1 / 15 th of the extract volume of talon metal affinity resin ( clontech ), according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . purified vhh antibody fragments were concentrated and dialyzed to pbs using vivaspin 5 kda mwco devices ( sartorius stedim ), according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . vhh binding to gum arabic in elisa — titration of vhh antibody fragments was performed on elisa plates ( maxisorp , nunc ) coated with 100 μl per well 100 μg / ml gum arabic in 50 mm carbonate ph 9 . 6 . plates were coated at 4 ° c . overnight and coating was continued at room temperature for 1 hour on the next day . plates were washed three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 hour . four - fold serial dilutions of purified vhh antibody fragments were prepared in 1 % mpbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 in polypropylene 96 - well plates . antibody concentrations ranged from 3 μg / ml to 12 ng / ml . antibody dilutions were transferred to the gum arabic - coated plates and vhh antibody fragments were allowed to bind for 1 hour at room temperature . bound vhh were detected with sequential incubations with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies ( abd serotec ) and rabbit anti - mouse igg whole molecule antibodies conjugated with alkaline phosphatase ( ram / ap ) ( sigma ) in 1 % mpbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . unbound antibodies were removed by washing three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 after each antibody incubation . the plates were washed an additional two times with pbs and 100 μl pnpp disodium hexahydrate substrate ( sigma ) was added to each well . the absorbance at 405 nm was measured and plotted as function of antibody concentration ( see table 1 ). elisa plates ( maxisorp , nunc ) coated with 100 μl per well 100 μg / ml potato lectin ( sigma ) in pbs were coated at 4 ° c . overnight and coating was continued at room temperature for 1 hour on the next day . plates were washed three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 hour . vhh ( 3 μg / ml ) were transferred to the potato lectin - coated plates and vhh antibody fragments were allowed to bind for 1 hour at room temperature . bound vhh were detected with sequential incubations with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies ( abd serotec ) and rabbit anti - mouse igg whole molecule antibodies conjugated with alkaline phosphatase ( ram / ap ) ( sigma ) in 1 % mpbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . unbound antibodies were removed by washing three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 after each antibody incubation . the plates were washed an additional two times with pbs and 100 μl pnpp disodium hexahydrate substrate ( sigma ) was added to each well and the absorbance at 405 nm was measured ( see table 2 ). vhh binding to leaf discs — vhh binding to non - fixed leaf discs of potato ( variety désirée ), black nightshade , grass , wheat or azalea was investigated . for comparison , binding of cbm3a to non - fixed leaf discs of potato ( variety désirée ) was analyzed in parallel . leaf discs were prepared by punching a fresh potato leaf with a 5 mm belt hole puncher tool . leaf discs were put immediately in wells of a 96 - well plate containing 200 μl per well 5 % mpbs or pbs , and incubated for 30 minutes . leaf discs were transferred to solutions containing 5 μg / ml vhh antibody fragment , respectively , 5 μg / ml cbm3a in 2 % mpbs or pbs and incubated for 60 - 90 minutes . unbound vhh or cbm3a proteins were removed by washing three times with 2 % mpbs or pbs . bound vhh or cbm3a proteins were detected with incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in 1 % mpbs for 1 hour . unbound antibodies were removed by washing three times with pbs . leaf discs were put on glass slides , covered with cover slips , and analyzed by microscopy or on a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ) or a sp5 confocal microscope system ( leica ). by means of a non - limiting example , vhh antibody fragments ( e . g ., 3e6 , 5d4 ) were found to be clearly binding to trichomes , stomata and cuticle at the leaf surface of potato leaves ( fig1 a - c ). in sharp contrast , for cbm3a no binding at the surface of potato leaves was detected and only faint binding to the wound tissue at the cut edge of the potato leaf disc was observed ( fig1 d ). some vhh of this invention ( e . g ., 3e6 ) were also shown to bind specifically to the surface of black nightshade leaves or grass leaves or as shown in fig1 f and 1g , respectively . no significant binding was observed to the leaf surface of wheat or azalea . vhh binding to intact living plants — binding of vhh to intact living plants was investigated on potato pot plants ( variety desirée ). compound leaves of intact living plants were submersed in solutions of hexahistidine - tagged vhh in pbs , or pbs alone for control conditions , leaving the compound leaves attached to the plants . vhh were allowed to bind for 1 hour . next , the compound leaves still attached to the plants were washed five times in pbs in erlenmeyer flasks . different leaves and petiole sections were sampled . bound vhh were detected by incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in pbs for 1 hour . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs . whole leaves , leaf discs , or petiole sections were analyzed for bound vhh with microscopy . vhh proved to bind leaf structures such as trichomes and stomata , leaf surface , and petiole sections as shown in fig2 . no binding was observed with unrelated control vhh , proving that the vhh of this invention are capable of specifically binding to intact living plants . vhh binding in water — binding of vhh to leaf surfaces in water was investigated on leaf discs cut from leaves from potato plants ( variety desirée ). leaf discs were washed three times in ultrapure water . hexahistidine - tagged vhh were diluted in ultrapure water , added to leaf discs , and allowed to bind for 1 hour . although the stock solutions of vhh were in pbs , the dilutions used here ( 200 - fold for 5 μg / ml , or 2000 - fold for 500 ng / ml ) result in significant dilution of pbs from the stocks and can be considered sufficiently dilute to represent binding in water . after allowing vhh to bind for 1 hour , leaf discs were washed five times with ultrapure water . bound vhh were detected by incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in pbs for 1 hour . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs . leaf discs were analyzed for bound vhh with microscopy . binding of vhh in pbs was analyzed as described before as a control condition . detection of bound vhh with anti - histidine antibodies conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye , washing away non bound anti - histidine antibodies , and analyzing bound vhh with microscopy was performed as for the vhh binding experiment in water . vhh proved to bind in water to leaf structures such as trichomes and stomata , and leaf surface . no binding was observed with unrelated control vhh . the observed binding in water was similar as seen for the parallel experiment performed in pbs . the vhh of this invention are capable of binding leaf structures and leaf surface in water . vhh binding kinetics — in order to further test applicability of vhh as binders for greenhouse or field applications where binding supposedly needs to be achieved quickly after application , a leaf dip vhh binding experiment was employed to test minimum incubation times of vhh to achieve detectable binding . ø 8 mm potato leaf discs ( variety desirée ) were cut using a puncher tool and washed three times in pbs . 5 μg / ml pre - dilutions of hexahistidine - tagged vhh were prepared in pbs and incubated for different times with the leaf discs . the times for incubation were 10 seconds , 30 seconds , 1 minute , 5 minutes , 20 minutes , or 1 hour . unbound vhh were removed by washing five times with pbs . bound vhh were detected by incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in pbs for 1 hour . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs . leaf discs were analyzed for bound vhh with microscopy . specific binding was observed for each sample with specific vhh from incubation time 10 seconds to vhh incubation time 1 hour . no binding was observed with unrelated control vhh . the vhh of this invention show detectable binding to leaf structures , such as trichomes and stomata and leaf surface within 10 seconds after application . vhh binding at different ph — in order to test applicability of vhh as binders for greenhouse or field applications where binding supposedly may occur at ph - values , deviating strongly from physiological conditions in which antibodies naturally bind their targets , a leaf dip vhh binding experiment was carried out in a series of solutions with different ph . the following solutions were prepared : 50 mm glycine ph 2 . 0 , 50 mm sodium acetate ph 4 . 0 , 50 mm sodium carbonate ph 9 . 6 , and 10 mm sodium hydroxide ph 11 . 0 . o 8 mm potato leaf discs ( variety desirée ) were cut using a puncher tool . the leaf discs were first equilibrated to the different ph by washing three times with solutions at different ph . hexahistidine - tagged vhh were diluted to 5 μg / ml in solutions with different ph , added to the corresponding equilibrated leaf discs , and binding of vhh was allowed for 1 hour . after incubation with vhh , leaf discs were washed three times with solutions at the corresponding different ph . after that , all were washed two times with pbs to equilibrate leaf discs to pbs . bound vhh were detected by incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in pbs for 1 hour . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs . leaf discs were analyzed for bound vhh with microscopy . some of the vhh of this invention ( e . g ., vhh 3e6 ) showed detectable binding to leaf discs over the whole range tested from ph 2 to ph 11 . vhh binding at different temperatures — in order to test applicability of vhh as binders for greenhouse or field applications where binding supposedly may occur at different and sometimes even extreme temperatures , a leaf dip vhh binding experiment at different temperatures was used . temperatures used were 4 ° c ., room temperature , 37 ° c ., 55 ° c ., or 70 ° c . ø 8 mm potato leaf discs ( variety desirée ) were cut using a puncher tool . the leaf discs were equilibrated to different temperatures by washing three times with pbs at different temperatures . hexahistidine - tagged vhh were diluted to 5 μg / ml in pbs at different temperatures , added to the corresponding equilibrated leaf discs , and binding of vhh was allowed for 1 hour at different temperatures . after incubation with vhh , leaf discs were washed five times with pbs at room temperature . bound vhh were detected by incubation with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in pbs for 1 hour at room temperature . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs at room temperature . leaf discs were analyzed for bound vhh with microscopy . some of the vhh of this invention ( e . g ., vhh 3e6 ) showed detectable binding to leaf discs over a temperature range from 4 ° c . to 55 ° c . please note that leaf discs severely suffer when submerged in pbs at 70 ° c . for 1 hour but that binding of vhh was still detected . construction , production and purification of bivalent vhh — bivalent vhh constructs were produced in bacteria by cloning two vhh sequences in tandem into the pasf22 vector , creating a fusion of two vhh with a 9 glycine - serine linker ( ggggsgggs ) in between the two vhh . pasf22 is an in - house produced pmes derivative . the tags that were used were c - terminal c - myc ( eqkliseedln ) and hexahistidine ( hhhhhh ). a triple alanine linker ( aaa ) was placed in between the c - terminal end of the vhh and the c - myc tag and a glycine - alanine - alanine ( gaa ) linker was used in between the c - terminal end of the c - myc tag and the hexahistidine tag . the complete sequence c - terminal of the bivalent vhh that was used : aaa - eqkliseedln - gaa - hhhhhh . fresh overnight cultures were produced by starting from colony streaks and inoculation of 2 × ty media supplemented with 2 % glucose and 100 μg / ml ampicillin . the overnight cultures were used to inoculate fresh cultures 1 : 100 in 2 × ty media with 0 . 1 % glucose and 100 μg / ml ampicillin . after growing at 37 ° c . in a shaking incubator for 3 hours , iptg was added to a 1 mm final concentration and recombinant bivalent vhh were produced during an additional incubation for 4 hours . cells were spun down and resuspended in 1 / 50th of the original culture volume of pbs and incubated with head - over - head rotation at 4 ° c . for 30 minutes . spheroplasts were spun down by centrifugation at 3 , 000 g and 4 ° c . for 20 minutes . supernatants were transferred to fresh tubes and centrifuged again at 3 , 000 g and 4 ° c . for 20 minutes . the supernatant was collected and sodium chloride concentration was adjusted to 500 mm and imidazole concentration to 20 mm . hexahistidine - tagged bivalent vhh were purified from the extracts using histrap ff crude 5 ml imac columns ( ge lifesciences ) and hiload 16 / 60 superdex 75 prep grade gel filtration column ( ge lifesciences ) on an aktaxpress system ( ge lifesciences ) following standard procedures . coupling of vhh to microparticles — it was first examined whether vhh that are covalently bound to microparticles can bind their target and provide sufficient adhesion strength to a surface containing antigen for targeting of the microparticle . microparticles were coupled with gum arabic - specific vhh antibody fragments and binding to elisa plates coated with gum arabic was investigated . different types of microparticles were prepared . purified vhh antibody fragments were ( i ) coupled to ø 2 . 8 μm paramagnetic dynabeads m - 270 carboxylic acid ( dynal , invitrogen ), using a two - step coupling chemistry of edc activation of the beads and subsequent coupling of vhh antibody fragments , and ( ii ) coupled using a one - step coupling chemistry to ø 2 μm fluospheres fluorescent microspheres ( molecular probes , invitrogen ), both according to the manufacturers &# 39 ; instructions . briefly , for coupling to dynabeads m - 270 carboxylic acid : vhh were dialyzed to 50 mm mes buffer ph 5 . 0 using vivaspin 5 kda spin filter devices ( sartorius stedim ). beads were prepared by two sequential washes with 10 mm naoh , and three washes with water , and activated with 0 . 1 m edc ( pierce ) at room temperature for 30 minutes . edc - activated beads were washed by quick sequential washes with ice - cold water and ice - cold 50 mm mes buffer ph 5 . 0 . beads were dispensed with the last wash . 60 μg of vhh antibody fragment in 100 μl 50 mm mes ph 5 . 0 were added to 3 mg beads and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes . the supernatant after coupling was collected . by measuring protein a280 of the non - bound fraction the amounts of coupled and non - coupled vhh were calculated . greater than 95 % of vhh antibody fragment were coupled to the beads . beads were blocked with 50 mm tris ph 7 . 4 and washed three times with pbs / 0 . 1 %- tween ®- 20 and stored at 4 ° c . briefly , for coupling to fluospheres fluorescent microspheres : vhh were dialyzed to 50 mm mes buffer ph 6 . 0 using vivaspin 5 kda spin filter devices ( sartorius stedim ). 0 . 8 μm pes filter devices ( sartorius stedim ) were used throughout the procedure to isolate beads from solution . beads were prepared by washing with ultrapure water and re - suspension in ultrapure water . 100 μl of vhh antibody fragments containing 200 μg vhh were added to 100 μl beads . 0 . 8 mg edc ( pierce ) was added to each mix of beads with vhh and the ph was adjusted to 6 . 5 with 0 . 1 m naoh . coupling was performed at room temperature for 2 hours . glycine was added to a final concentration of 100 mm and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes to quench the reaction . by measuring protein a280 of the non - bound fraction the amounts of coupled and non - coupled vhh were calculated . between 14 % and 33 % of different vhh antibody fragments were coupled to the beads . beads were washed twice with 50 mm phosphate ph 7 . 4 ; 0 . 9 % nacl ( 50 mm pbs ) and stored in 1 % bsa , 2 mm sodium azide in 50 mm pbs . coupling of targeting agents to microcapsules containing fluorescent tracer or active ingredient — polyurea microcapsules were produced by interfacial polymerization . with the objective to generate functionalized polyurea microcapsules , vhh were coupled to microcapsules containing either the insecticide lambda cyhalothrin or the fluorescent tracer molecule uvitex ob and a shell with incorporated lysine to surface - expose carboxylic acid residues . lambda cyhalothrin was dissolved in benzyl benzoate in concentrations between 30 % and 66 % before encapsulation . alternatively , a core of 1 . 5 % uvitex in benzyl benzoate was used for easy fluorescent visualization of microcapsules . toluene diisocyanate ( tdi ) and polymethylenepolyphenylene isocyanate ( pmppi ) were dissolved in the oil phase in different ratios and concentrations in the oil phase to produce desired shell characteristics . stirring speed for the emulsion was varied to control droplet size and consequently microcapsule diameter . microcapsules with approximate diameters of 5 μm , 10 μm , or 50 μm were successfully produced . bifunctional lysine and trifunctional diethylene triamine ( deta ) were used in different ratios and / or added sequentially during encapsulation to on the one hand maximize amounts of carboxylic acids on the microcapsules &# 39 ; surface and on the other hand obtain sufficient strength of capsule shells . microcapsules were washed with water after production and stored as microcapsule suspensions in water . the microcapsules were washed with 100 mm mes , 500 mm nacl , ph 6 . 0 immediately before coupling of vhh using a vacuum - tight filter flask and p 1 . 6 filter funnel ( duran ). alternatively , glass filter holders with 0 . 45 μm disposable membrane filters ( millipore ) or 0 . 45 μm 96 - well deep - well filtration plates ( millipore ) were used . couplings of vhh to microcapsules were performed using carbodiimide - mediated couplings using a one - step procedure , a two - step procedure without n - hydroxysuccinimide ( nhs ), or a two - step procedure with nhs . the major difference between one - step coupling and two - step coupling procedures is the occurrence of cross - linking of vhh in one - step coupling procedures . the protocols for the three procedures are largely similar and differ as follows . for one - step couplings vhh were added to washed microcapsules and 1 - ethyl - 3 -[ 3 - dimethylaminopropyl ] carbodiimide hydrochloride ( edc ) ( pierce ) was added and coupling reaction was allowed for 2 hours at room temperature . for two - step couplings washed microcapsules were first activated with edc in the presence or absence of nhs . excess unreacted edc ( and nhs ) were removed by quick sequential washes with ice - cold buffers and vhh were added and allowed to react with activated carboxylic acids on microcapsule shells . for ø 10 μm microcapsules 2 - 20 ’ g vhh were coupled per mg microcapsules . for microcapsules with other diameters amounts were scaled accordingly . after coupling of vhh the microcapsules were washed with pbs and stored in pbs . success of coupling of vhh was investigated using a combination of analyzing coupling efficiency by sds - page and analyzing bound hexahistidine - tagged vhh by microscopy or a sp5 confocal microscope system ( leica ) using anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye . with sds - page analysis formation of multimers was observed for one - step coupling reactions as expected . vhh - coupled microcapsules were labeled with anti - histidine antibodies for 1 hour at room temperature . unbound anti - histidine antibodies were removed by washing five times with pbs using 0 . 45 μm 96 - well deep - well filtration plates ( millipore ). microcapsules with coupled vhh , microcapsules incubated with vhh to which no edc was added , and blank microcapsules were compared . anti - histidine labeling of microcapsules was most intense for microcapsules to which vhh had been coupled using either one - step or two - step coupling procedures as shown in fig3 . it was also observed that some vhh were passively adsorbed to the microcapsules . vhh were successfully coupled to microcapsules of different size using either one - step or two - step coupling procedures . binding assays with vhh - coupled beads or microcapsules — functionality of vhh - coupled microparticles was investigated in elisa plates that were coated with 100 μg / ml gum arabic in 50 mm carbonate ph 9 . 6 or pbs . coating was performed overnight and plates were washed three times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 . 5 hours . vhh - coupled paramagnetic beads were diluted 50 - fold and incubated with monoclonal mouse anti - histidine antibodies directly conjugated with alexa - 488 fluorescent dye ( abd serotec ) in 1 % mpbst for 1 hour . two - fold serial dilutions ( 50 - to 800 - fold ) of vhh - conjugated paramagnetic dynabeads and fluospheres fluorescent beads were prepared in 2 % mpbs , transferred to the gum arabic - coated elisa plates , and incubated at room temperature for 1 hour . unbound beads were removed by washing five times with pbs / 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . the bottoms of elisa plate wells were analyzed for bound beads by microscopy . counting beads and using the microscope &# 39 ; s camera mask for calculation of the analyzed surface area were used for calculating number of bound beads per well as shown in table 3 . alternatively , microparticles were visualized using a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ) and counted using volocity image analysis software ( perkinelmer ); the number of bound fluospheres per well is shown in table 4 . an elisa - like assay setup was used to evaluate the interaction of vhh - coupled microcapsules to antigen - containing surfaces . elisa plates ( maxisorp ( thermo scientific nunc ) or high bind half area microplates ( greiner bio - one )) were coated with gum arabic or potato lectin . coatings were performed overnight with 100 μg / ml gum arabic or potato lectin in pbs . control wells included blank wells or wells coated with unrelated antigens . plates were washed three times with pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 to 2 hours . vhh - coupled lambda cyhalothrin - containing or uvitex - containing microcapsules were diluted to appropriate densities in 1 % skimmed milk in pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . microcapsules were added to the antigen - coated or control wells and allowed to bind for 1 hour . unbound microcapsules were removed by washing five times with pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . the bottoms of elisa plate wells were analyzed for bound microcapsules on a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ). microcapsules were counted using volocity image analysis software ( perkin elmer ). a dapi filter was used to visualize uvitex microcapsules . white led illumination and bright field pictures were used for lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules . controls for lambda cyhalothrin - containing or uvitex - containing microcapsules included blank microcapsules and microcapsules to which unrelated vhh were coupled . in another experiment lambda cyhalothrin amounts were also determined analytically . 100 μl / well aceton was added to washed wells with bound microcapsules and transferred to glass vials with 10 ml of hexane containing 0 . 05 % triphenylphosphate as internal standard . the amount of lambda cyhalothrin was determined by gc / ms - ms analysis in comparison with calibration solutions . controls for lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules included blank microcapsules to which no vhh were coupled and microcapsules to which unrelated vhh were coupled . controls also included wells to which no gum arabic or potato lectin was coated . based on the results of the elisa - like assay with lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules it was found that some of the vhh of this invention ( e . g ., vhh3e6 ) are capable of binding and retaining microcapsules to antigen - coated surfaces resulting in a 23 - fold increase of amounts of lambda cyhalothrin in wells coated with antigen compared to blank microcapsules and a 27 - fold increase was measured over blank wells not coated with antigen . based on the results of the microcapsule binding assays vhh could be classified as capable or not capable of binding and retaining microcapsules to a surface . some of the vhh of this invention ( e . g ., vhh3e6 ) proved capable of binding specifically to antigen - coated surfaces when coupled to a microcapsule . no significant binding to surfaces with unrelated antigens was observed . moreover , the specific binding was strong enough to retain the microcapsule at the antigen - coated surface , as the binding force clearly resists the shear forces that occur during the washing procedure . what is more is that vhh are capable of binding and retaining microcapsules containing relevant active ingredients to surfaces , as shown , for example , with microcapsules containing the insecticide lambda cyhalothrin . next it was investigated if binding of microcapsules to surfaces could be improved by using targeting agents comprising multivalent vhh . a series of parallel couplings was performed with equal amounts of monovalent vhh , bivalent vhh , and unrelated vhh . success of coupling of vhh and multivalent vhh were analyzed as described in example 4 . an elisa - like assay was performed using high bind half area microplates ( greiner bio - one ) coated with 5 μg / well potato lectin . control wells included blank wells or wells coated with unrelated antigens . plates were washed three times with pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 and blocked with 5 % skimmed milk in pbs for 1 to 2 hours . vhh - coupled uvitex - containing microcapsules were diluted to appropriate densities in 1 % skimmed milk in pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . five - fold serial dilution series were prepared and allowed to bind to the surface to compare binding of microcapsules coupled with monovalent or bivalent vhh . microcapsules were added to the antigen - coated or control wells and allowed to bind for 1 hour . unbound microcapsules were removed by washing five times with pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . the bottoms of elisa plate wells were analyzed for bound microcapsules on a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ). microcapsules were counted using volocity image analysis software ( perkin elmer ). a dapi filter was used to visualize uvitex microcapsules . bivalent vhh proved capable of binding specifically to an antigen - coated surface when coupled to a microcapsule and more microcapsules were retained using bivalent vhh compared to microcapsules with monovalent vhh . with the highest density of microcapsules applied ( calculated to fully cover the surface of the bottom of the well ) it was found that 17 % more microcapsules with coupled bivalent vhh were retained in the well compared to the same amount of microcapsules with monovalent vhh . with an application of 25 - fold less microcapsules it was found that 160 % more microcapsules were retained in the well for microcapsules coupled with bivalent vhh compared to microcapsules with monovalent vhh . the surface area of microcapsules with coupled bivalent vhh was 15 - fold above the surface area of blank microcapsules applied at this microcapsule density while the surface area of microcapsules with monovalent vhh was only six - fold above the surface area of blank microcapsules applied at this microcapsule density . this difference could be explained by an increase in binding strength due to additional avidity of the bivalent vhh compared to monovalent vhh , it could also be that the use of bivalent vhh increases flexibility and spacer length of the coupled targeting agents on microcapsules , or a combination of both . a leaf disc binding assay was used to evaluate the interaction of vhh - coupled microcapsules with potato , grass and azalea leaves . ø 8 mm leaf discs were sampled from the leaves of potato pot plants ( variety desirée ), from the leaves of greenhouse - grown lollium perenne and from the leaves of azalea pot plants . leaf discs were washed three times with pbs . microcapsules containing lambda cyhalothrin or uvitex were diluted to appropriate densities in 1 % skimmed milk in pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . microcapsules were added to the leaf discs and settling of microcapsules and binding of targeting agents allowed for 1 hour . unbound microcapsules were removed by washing three to five times with pbs with 0 . 05 %- tween ®- 20 . for lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules a residue analysis was performed to measure lambda cyhalothrin amounts on potato leaf discs . washed leaf discs with bound microcapsules were transferred to glass vials and microcapsules were dissolved in acetone . samples were diluted by addition of hexane containing 0 . 05 % triphenylphosphate as internal standard . the amount of lambda cyhalothrin was determined by gc / ms - ms analysis in comparison with calibration solutions . controls for lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules included blank microcapsules to which no vhh were coupled and microcapsules to which unrelated vhh were coupled . based on the results of leaf disc binding assays with lambda cyhalothrin microcapsules it was found that some of the vhh of this invention are capable of binding and retaining microcapsules to leaf surfaces resulting in a 3 . 3 - fold and 2 . 2 - fold increase of amounts of lambda cyhalothrin on leaf discs compared to blank microcapsules to which no vhh were coupled or microcapsules with coupled unrelated vhh , respectively . leaf discs with uvitex microcapsules were analyzed for bound microcapsules on a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ). microcapsules were counted using volocity image analysis software ( perkin elmer ). a dapi filter was used to visualize uvitex microcapsules . controls for uvitex microcapsules included blank microcapsules to which no vhh were coupled and microcapsules to which unrelated vhh were coupled . based on the results of the leaf disc binding assay with uvitex microcapsules it was found that some of the vhh ( e . g ., vhh 3e6 ) of this invention proved capable of binding and retaining microcapsules specifically to leaf surfaces . on potato leaf discs , specific binding of the microcapsules coupled with vhh 3e6 , resulted in nine - fold more microcapsules bound to leaf surfaces compared to blank microcapsules and in six - fold more microcapsules bound to leaf surfaces compared to microcapsules coupled with unrelated vhh , as shown in fig4 . on grass leaf discs , specific binding of microcapsules coupled with vhh 3e6 resulted in three - fold more microcapsules bound to leaf surfaces compared to blank microcapsules and in two - fold more microcapsules bound to leaf surfaces compared to microcapsules coupled with unrelated vhh . on azalea leaf discs , no specific binding of microcapsules coupled with vhh 3e6 could be observed , which entirely resembles the plant - species related binding specificity of the vhh as demonstrated in example 3 . a titration experiment was performed to investigate what dilution factor of microcapsules with specific vhh corresponds to an application of microcapsules to which no vhh were coupled to obtain similar amounts of microcapsules after an identical treatment . two - fold serial dilutions of microcapsules were prepared and leaf disc binding was analyzed on potato leaf discs for these dilution series . from the dosing experiment it was calculated that an eight - fold lower concentration of microcapsules with specific vhh resulted in similar amounts of microcapsules specifically bound to the leaf discs compared to non - functionalized microcapsules as shown in fig5 . from this experiment , it will be clear that a meaningful reduction of a suitable dose of an agrochemical can be achieved , by coupling one of the vhh according to this invention , to a microcarrier containing the agrochemical . deposition and retention of targeting agent - coupled microcapsules on intact living plant surface effects on deposition and retention of carriers with coupled targeting agents were investigated in experiments with whole potato pot plants ( variety desirée ) grown in greenhouses . microcapsules coupled with specific vhh , coupled with unrelated control vhh , or blank microcapsules were applied to multiple whole compound leaves from different plants . in total 15 plants were used for different treatments . microcapsule suspensions were calculated to apply 6 . 4 % coverage of microcapsules on leaf surfaces . compound leaves were submerged in microcapsule suspensions in the same way as for microcapsule leaf disc binding assays ( see above ) with the modification that settling of microcapsules and binding of vhh was allowed for only 15 minutes . plants were allowed to dry up for 1 hour after application of microcapsules . one of each pair of opposite leaves from within each compound leaf was sampled and analyzed without any further treatment . the effects of specific vhh coupled to microcapsules on microcapsule deposition could be analyzed with these leaves from different applications . the whole plants missing only the sampled leaves were treated further to investigate the effect of specific vhh coupled to microcapsules on retention after a rainfall event and the combined effects of deposition and retention . a rain simulation with fine droplets ( sscotfvs2 nozzle type ) of 1 l / m2 in 45 seconds was used to investigate retention effects . the opposite leaves of already sampled leaves were sampled after the rain simulation . whole leaves with uvitex microcapsules were analyzed for bound microcapsules on a macrozoom microscope system ( nikon ). microcapsules were counted using volocity image analysis software ( perkin elmer ). a dapi filter was used to visualize uvitex microcapsules . from the leaves that were sampled before the rainfall event it was calculated that already 2 . 7 - fold more microcapsules were deposited for microcapsules with specific targeting agent compared to blank microcapsules . leaves with microcapsules with unrelated control targeting agent contained only a 0 . 8 fraction of microcapsules compared to blank microcapsules . this shows that specific vhh already have a beneficial effect on the deposition of microcapsules on plants . on average 69 (± 8 )% of microcapsules with specific vhh was retained after the rainfall event while only 35 (± 17 )% and 39 (± 4 )% of microcapsules was retained for microcapsules coupled with unrelated control vhh and blank microcapsules , respectively . the combination of effects of deposition and retention resulted in five - fold and 0 . 9 - fold in the amount of microcapsules on leaves on whole plants for microcapsules with specific vhh or unrelated control vhh , compared to blank microcapsules , respectively . from this experiment it will be clear that specific vhh are superior targeting agents that enable delivery and specific binding of carriers to whole intact living plants . as a consequence from improved deposition and improved retention targeting agents of this invention coupled to carriers containing an agrochemical or a combination of agrochemicals hold great promise to deliver the agrochemicals specifically to plant surfaces and hereby either increase amounts of the agrochemicals deposited on the plant surface , or enable reduced application rates while maintaining similar efficacy , or enable reduced application frequencies while maintaining similar efficacy or enable improved rainfastness of the agrochemicals or induce a certain specificity for the agrochemicals or any combination of the foregoing . altschul s . f ., t . l . madden , a . a . schäffer , j . zhang , z . zhang , w . miller , and d . j . lipman ( 1997 ). gapped blast and psi - 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