LWV22026 Towards nanoparticle-based bio-macromolecule delivery into plant cells (BO-68-001-058)

These techniques heavily rely on the delivery of bio-macromolecules, like DNA, RNA, and proteins, into the plant cell to facilitate a genetic modification. Successful delivery of foreign bio-macromolecules in target cells forms the basis of various (transient) transformation and genome editing protocols. For some plant species successful transformation protocols are available, based on Agrobacterium delivery of transfer-DNA (T-DNA), biolistics, or protoplast transfection. However, a large number of plant species, including many commercially relevant crop and ornamental plants, are not amendable for these transformation technologies for reasons which are not always clear, but likely relate to the tissue culture steps which are required in the transformation procedure. Hence, there is an urgent need for new targeted delivery methods for bio-macromolecules, which ideally avoid tissue culture steps and act uniformly across various plants.

With this proposal we intend to develop such a new and robust strategy for plant transfection. We aim to develop a method, using nanoparticles (NPs) as a vehicle, to transport and release nucleic acids into intact plant cells that have regenerative capacity. The NPs will be developed as such to protect the genetic material during transport and uptake into the cell, and they will be equipped with stimuli-responsive molecular mechanisms that allow for controlled release of the cargo, e.g. plasmid DNA, once arrived in the cell. The developed method should enable (transient) gene expression, and genome editing, without the need for (trans)gene integration, directly in plant tissue with regenerative capacity. Enabling gene function studies and genome editing methodologies in theoretically any plant species would revolutionize the field of plant breeding. On the horizon, this research will also form a basis to deliver proteins, peptides, hormones, or other molecules directly into plant cells.