Carbon nanofiber arrays: A novel tool for microdelivery of biomolecules to plants

Sandra M. Davern, Timothy E. McKnight, Robert F. Standaert, Jennifer L. Morrell-Falvey, Elena D. Shpak, Udaya C. Kalluri, Joanna Jelenska, Jean T. Greenberg, Saed Mirzadeh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Effective methods for delivering bioprobes into the cells of intact plants are essential for investigating diverse biological processes. Increasing research on trees, such as Populus spp., for bioenergy applications is driving the need for techniques that work well with tree species. This report introduces vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (VACNF) arrays as a new tool for microdelivery of labeled molecules to Populus leaf tissue and whole plants. We demonstrated that VACNFs penetrate the leaf surface to deliver sub-microliter quantities of solution containing fluorescent or radiolabeled molecules into Populus leaf cells. Importantly, VACNFs proved to be gentler than abrasion with carborundum, a common way to introduce material into leaves. Unlike carborundum, VACNFs did not disrupt cell or tissue integrity, nor did they induce production of hydrogen peroxide, a typical wound response. We show that femtomole to picomole quantities of labeled molecules (fluorescent dyes, small proteins and dextran), ranging from 0.5-500 kDa, can be introduced by VACNFs, and we demonstrate the use of the approach to track delivered probes from their site of introduction on the leaf to distal plant regions. VACNF arrays thus offer an attractive microdelivery method for the introduction of biomolecules and other probes into trees and potentially other types of plants.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0153621
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Davern et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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