Gene

Cell biology

Plant cell

Biology

Materials science

Gene silencing

Computational biology

Genetics

Nanotechnology

Biomolecule

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Plant bioengineering will be necessary to sustain plant biology and agriculture, where the delivery of biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, or proteins to plant cells is at the crux of plant biotechnology. Here, we show that DNA nanostructures can internalize into plant cells and deliver siRNA to mature plant tissues without external aid. Furthermore, we demonstrate that nanostructure size, shape, compactness, and stiffness affect both nanostructure internalization into plant cells and subsequent gene silencing efficiency. Interestingly, we also find that the siRNA attachment locus affects the endogenous plant gene silencing pathway. Our work demonstrates programmable delivery of biomolecules to plants and details the figures of merit for future implementation of DNA nanostructures in agriculture.

DNA nanostructures coordinate gene silencing in mature plants