Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants

Abstract Presence of the cell wall and the lack of streamlined pathways for cellular delivery of external agents into plants is a core challenge of plant biotechnology and crop engineering development. However, both viral and bacterial transmission have their own restrictions and the few non-heavy m...

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Main Authors: Xue Xia, Jiawei Dong, Aijie Li, Yanlin Wang, Yang Liu, Yingfang Zhu, Liang Xu, Zhiyang Jing, Jing Wang, Yan Zou, Shiyong Sun, Lu Wang, Yiqing Lu, Alex Soeriyadi, Xuelu Wang, John W. Patrick, Christina E. Offler, Meng Zheng, Chun-Peng Song, Bingyang Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60829-8
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author Xue Xia
Jiawei Dong
Aijie Li
Yanlin Wang
Yang Liu
Yingfang Zhu
Liang Xu
Zhiyang Jing
Jing Wang
Yan Zou
Shiyong Sun
Lu Wang
Yiqing Lu
Alex Soeriyadi
Xuelu Wang
John W. Patrick
Christina E. Offler
Meng Zheng
Chun-Peng Song
Bingyang Shi
author_facet Xue Xia
Jiawei Dong
Aijie Li
Yanlin Wang
Yang Liu
Yingfang Zhu
Liang Xu
Zhiyang Jing
Jing Wang
Yan Zou
Shiyong Sun
Lu Wang
Yiqing Lu
Alex Soeriyadi
Xuelu Wang
John W. Patrick
Christina E. Offler
Meng Zheng
Chun-Peng Song
Bingyang Shi
author_sort Xue Xia
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Presence of the cell wall and the lack of streamlined pathways for cellular delivery of external agents into plants is a core challenge of plant biotechnology and crop engineering development. However, both viral and bacterial transmission have their own restrictions and the few non-heavy metal nanodelivery platforms require external forces for tissue penetration. Such dependency limits any high-throughput application considering the large plant numbers to be treated in the field or even laboratory exercises. Herein, we demonstrate Aspartic acid (Asp) decorated poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (Asp-PEG-PDPA) copolymers assembled micelles (Asp/PDPA-NP), a platform that utilises amino acid transporters (AtAAP1 and AtLHT1) as receptors for clathrin-dependent endocytosis, freely translocate to release loaded cargo into various plant tissue/cell types in a species-independent manner within ≤10 minutes through simple spray or co-culture. As proof-of-concept, abscisic acid (ABA)-loaded Asp/PDPA-NP was tested for its efficacy to confer plant drought resistance. Asp/PDPA-NP@ABA reduced the effective ABA dose down to 1 nM (one million-fold) and elicited anti-drought potency in representative eudicot (soybean) and monocot (maize) crop species. Owing to its delivery efficiency, Asp/PDPA-NP holds promise as a potent carrier for diverse chemicals and biomolecules in plant systems.
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spelling doaj-art-3db77546b5d74fc1bbf2947b43077d3a2025-08-20T04:03:07ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-60829-8Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plantsXue Xia0Jiawei Dong1Aijie Li2Yanlin Wang3Yang Liu4Yingfang Zhu5Liang Xu6Zhiyang Jing7Jing Wang8Yan Zou9Shiyong Sun10Lu Wang11Yiqing Lu12Alex Soeriyadi13Xuelu Wang14John W. Patrick15Christina E. Offler16Meng Zheng17Chun-Peng Song18Bingyang Shi19The Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversitySchool of Environmental and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of NewcastleThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityAgnetic Bio InnovationState Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversitySchool of Environmental and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of NewcastleSchool of Environmental and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of NewcastleThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityThe Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan UniversityAbstract Presence of the cell wall and the lack of streamlined pathways for cellular delivery of external agents into plants is a core challenge of plant biotechnology and crop engineering development. However, both viral and bacterial transmission have their own restrictions and the few non-heavy metal nanodelivery platforms require external forces for tissue penetration. Such dependency limits any high-throughput application considering the large plant numbers to be treated in the field or even laboratory exercises. Herein, we demonstrate Aspartic acid (Asp) decorated poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (Asp-PEG-PDPA) copolymers assembled micelles (Asp/PDPA-NP), a platform that utilises amino acid transporters (AtAAP1 and AtLHT1) as receptors for clathrin-dependent endocytosis, freely translocate to release loaded cargo into various plant tissue/cell types in a species-independent manner within ≤10 minutes through simple spray or co-culture. As proof-of-concept, abscisic acid (ABA)-loaded Asp/PDPA-NP was tested for its efficacy to confer plant drought resistance. Asp/PDPA-NP@ABA reduced the effective ABA dose down to 1 nM (one million-fold) and elicited anti-drought potency in representative eudicot (soybean) and monocot (maize) crop species. Owing to its delivery efficiency, Asp/PDPA-NP holds promise as a potent carrier for diverse chemicals and biomolecules in plant systems.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60829-8
spellingShingle Xue Xia
Jiawei Dong
Aijie Li
Yanlin Wang
Yang Liu
Yingfang Zhu
Liang Xu
Zhiyang Jing
Jing Wang
Yan Zou
Shiyong Sun
Lu Wang
Yiqing Lu
Alex Soeriyadi
Xuelu Wang
John W. Patrick
Christina E. Offler
Meng Zheng
Chun-Peng Song
Bingyang Shi
Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
Nature Communications
title Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
title_full Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
title_fullStr Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
title_full_unstemmed Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
title_short Amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
title_sort amino acid transporters mediate autonomous delivery of nanoparticle vehicles into living plants
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60829-8
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