Engineering Nanotechnology for Precision Sensing and Targeted Delivery in Living Plants

Plant engineering plays a pivotal role in enhancing the productivity and resilience of future agricultural practices. Nevertheless, current efforts in plant engineering are hampered by the lack of universal and efficient techniques that can be applied across various plant species. In this talk, I will present the development of nanoparticle-mediated biomolecule delivery and analytical tools which can be interfaced with living plants of different species to enable diverse plant biotechnology and agricultural applications. First, I will describe the engineering of nanomaterials as optical nanosensors to monitor plant defense signaling pathways elicited by environmental stresses. By embedding nanosensors within plant tissues, the plant internal state can be accessed with portable electronics in a non-destructive and species-independent manner – a combination of features currently unattainable with existing analytical approaches. The optical sensing strategy is versatile and can be expanded for selective detection of abiotic and biotic stressors. Additionally, I will also present recent efforts in our group developing functionalized nanomaterials for targeted delivery to specific plant organs. These advances highlight the potential of nanomaterial-enabled platforms to engineer high-yielding and climate-resilient agriculture for our food security.