Unveiling the potential: Extracellular vesicles from plant cell suspension cultures as a promising source.

Extracellular vesicles are secreted by all eukaryotic cells and they have an important role in intercellular signaling. Plant extracellular vesicles (PEVs) are a novel area of research that has gained attention due to their potential implications in biomolecule transport and therapeutic applications. PEVs are lipid bilayer-enclosed structures that contain a diverse cargo of biomolecules such as proteins and lipids. Moreover, it is known that PEVs have a noticeable therapeutic potential for various conditions such as inflammation and oxidative stress. However, there are critical problems such as removing the endosomes and plant-derived biomolecules that decrease the standardization and therapeutic efficacy of PEVs. In our study, the aim was to characterize plant cell suspension-derived extracellular vesicles (PCSEVs) obtained from two different plant cell suspension cultures: Stevia rebaudiana and Vaccaria hispanica. These vesicles were isolated using ultrafiltration and characterized with nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The molecular composition of PCSEVs was profiled and the cellular uptake assay was performed. Our results demonstrated that PCSEVs have a spherical shape, less than 200 nm. In the fatty acid analysis, the primary components in PCSEVs were palmitic acid, linoleic acid, and cis-vaccenic acid. The protein content of Stevia rebaudiana-derived EVs (SDEVs) was largely associated with proteins involved in extracellular structures and functions. Conversely, Vaccaria hispanica-derived EVs (HDEVs) displayed a higher presence of cytosolic proteins. These findings contribute to the understanding of PCSEVs and open up potential avenues in extracellular vesicle research, pointing to promising prospects for future innovations in various fields.

Brachypodium genomics.

Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv. is a temperate wild grass species; its morphological and genomic characteristics make it a model system when compared to many other grass species. It has a small genome, short growth cycle, self-fertility, many diploid accessions, and simple growth requirements. In addition, it is phylogenetically close to economically important crops, like wheat and barley, and several potential biofuel grasses. It exhibits agricultural traits similar to those of these target crops. For cereal genomes, it is a better model than Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa (rice), the former used as a model for all flowering plants and the latter hitherto used as model for genomes of all temperate grass species including major cereals like barley and wheat. Increasing interest in this species has resulted in the development of a series of genomics resources, including nuclear sequences and BAC/EST libraries, together with the collection and characterization of other genetic resources. It is expected that the use of this model will allow rapid advances in generation of genomics information for the improvement of all temperate crops, particularly the cereals.