Nanomaterials as tools in plant transformation: A protoplast-centric perspective

Genetic engineering of plants can boost disease resistance, enhance crop traits, and ultimately improve agricultural productivity. Several approaches to plant bioengineering have been successful in recent decades. Nanomaterials (NMs) can be customized and fabricated with targeting capabilities, making them well-suited for bioengineering applications. These NMs include organic, inorganic, and composite materials with many different structures, including nanofibers, nanoparticles (NPs), and nanomembranes. Protoplasts are often used as target cells because they lack a cell wall and are more likely to endocytose NM. In this review, the efficacy of NMs in delivering genetic material to protoplasts is examined. The challenges associated with protoplast generation and optimization of protocols for transformation are explored and the possible advantages of NMs in this process are identified. The chemical properties of these NMs in relation to their potency is briefly discussed. Ultimately, this technology is evolving and our understanding of NMs and the requirement for migration through the cellular membrane is still missing several key pieces of information. The next decades will likely produce important new insights that will have important impacts in this field. • Nanomaterials are useful tools in gene delivery and can be modified to target specific cells and organelles. • In plants, several types of nanomaterials have been used to cross the plant cell wall and lipid membrane. • Protoplasts, plant cells without a cell wall, can be transformed more easily with nanomaterials, but face challenges. • Protoplasts are fragile and difficult to isolate, making them susceptible to cytotoxic effects of reactive nanomaterials. • Protoplasts are ideal for nanomaterial-mediated gene manipulation, with potential for generating whole plants.