SYDNEY, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have for the first time introduced genetic material into plants via their roots in a breakthrough they said could boost crop yield and food quality.
In a study published in the journal Nature Plants on Friday, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) said they succeeded in having plant roots absorb a benign nanoparticle.
Bernard Carroll, a co-author of the research from UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, said that nanoparticle technology could open a pathway for rapid crop improvement.
The nanoparticle used for the study was initially developed by UQ researchers for the delivery of vaccines and cancer treatments in animals.
Carroll said that the nanoparticle was coated with a protein that helped it break through tough plant walls to deliver a synthetic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) into plants for the first time.
He said that the team was surprised to find that the nanoparticle distributed mRNA through the plant as it traveled with water rather than delivering all of its load in the first cell it entered.
"This is exciting because with further improvement, the technology could potentially be used in the future to produce new crop varieties more quickly," Carroll said.
"With further research we could target an issue with a crop such as flavor or quality and have a new variety without the need for a decade of cross-breeding or genetic modification."
The research team used the nanoparticle to deliver mRNA that produces a green fluorescent protein. It was tested on several plant species including Arabidopsis, a small member of the cabbage and canola family.
The technique has been patented by a UQ commercialization company, which is now seeking partners to further develop the technology. ■
