Proteolistics: A Protein Delivery Method

Abstract

Intracellular protein delivery in plant tissues is becoming an important tool for addressing both basic and applied research questions by plant biologists, especially in the era of genome editing. The ability to deliver proteins or protein/RNA complexes into cells allows for producing gene-edited plants that are free of transgene integration in the genome. Here we describe a protocol for the delivery of a protein/gold particle mixture in plant cells through biolistics. The key for the delivery is the drying of the protein/gold suspension directly onto the gene-gun cartridge or macrocarrier. The intracellular protein delivery into plant cells is achieved through the bombardment using the Bio-Rad PDS-1000/He particle delivery device. We termed this methodology “proteolistics.”