Efficient delivery of a DNA aptamer-based biosensor into plant cells for glucose sensing through thiol-mediated uptake
Quanbing Mou, Xueyi Xue, Yuan Ma, Mandira Banik, Valeria Garcia, Weijie Guo, Jiang Wang, Tingjie Song, Li‐Qing Chen, Yi Lu
Abstract
DNA aptamers have been widely used as biosensors for detecting a variety of targets. Despite decades of success, they have not been applied to monitor any targets in plants, even though plants are a major platform for providing oxygen, food, and sustainable products ranging from energy fuels to chemicals, and high-value products such as pharmaceuticals. A major barrier to progress is a lack of efficient methods to deliver DNA into plant cells. We herein report a thiol-mediated uptake method that more efficiently delivers DNA into Arabidopsis and tobacco leaf cells than another state-of-the-art method, DNA nanostructures. Such a method allowed efficient delivery of a glucose DNA aptamer sensor into Arabidopsis for sensing glucose. This demonstration opens a new avenue to apply DNA aptamer sensors for functional studies of various targets, including metabolites, plant hormones, metal ions, and proteins in plants for a better understanding of the biodistribution and regulation of these species and their functions.