Direct Nuclear Delivery of Proteins on Living Plant via Partial Enzymatic Cell Wall Digestion

Abstract

While many variations of protein delivery methods have been described, it can still be difficult or inefficient to introduce exogenous proteins into plants. A major barrier to progress is the cell wall which is primarily composed of polysaccharides and thus only permeable to small molecules. Here, we report a partial enzymatic cell wall digestion-mediated uptake method that efficiently delivers protein into the nucleus of plant cells. Such a method allowed efficient nuclear delivery of GFP proteins into Arabidopsis root cells throughout all cell layers. This study establishes that a partial enzymatic cell wall degradation could enable a myriad of plant biotechnology applications that rely on functional protein delivery into walled plant cells.