Quantum dot carrier peptide conjugates suitable for imaging and delivery applications in plants

摘要

A method of introducing one or more nucleic acids of interest into a plant cell having a cell wall to effect stable transformation of a plant and seeds is disclosed. The method comprises providing the plant cell having a cell wall; interacting a quantum dot (semi-conductor nanoparticle) with one or more cell penetrating peptides to form a quantum dot-peptide conjugate; attaching the one or more nucleic acids of interest to the one or more cell penetrating peptides to form an activated quantum dot-peptide conjugate; placing the cell having a cell wall and the activated quantum dot-peptide conjugate in contact with each other; and allowing uptake of the quantum dot-peptide conjugate and the one or more nucleic acids of interest into the cell having the cell wall.