Review Article | Open Access

Volume 2022 |Article ID 9863496 | https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9863496

Biological and Molecular Components for Genetically Engineering Biosensors in Plants

Yang LiuiD ,¹ Guoliang YuaniD ,^1,2 Md Mahmudul Hassan,³ Paul E. AbrahamiD ,^1,2 Julie C. Mitchell,¹ Daniel Jacobson,^1,2 Gerald A. Tuskan,^1,2 Arjun Khakhar,⁴ June Medford,⁴ Cheng Zhao,⁵ Chang-Jun Liu,⁶ Carrie A. Eckert,^1,2 Mitchel J. Doktycz,¹ Timothy J. Tschaplinski,^1,2 Xiaohan Yang iD ^1,2

¹Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
²The Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
³Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh
⁴Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
⁵Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China
⁶Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA

Abstract

Plants adapt to their changing environments by sensing and responding to physical, biological, and chemical stimuli. Due to their sessile lifestyles, plants experience a vast array of external stimuli and selectively perceive and respond to specific signals. By repurposing the logic circuitry and biological and molecular components used by plants in nature, genetically encoded plant-based biosensors (GEPBs) have been developed by directing signal recognition mechanisms into carefully assembled outcomes that are easily detected. GEPBs allow for in vivo monitoring of biological processes in plants to facilitate basic studies of plant growth and development. GEPBs are also useful for environmental monitoring, plant abiotic and biotic stress management, and accelerating design-build-test-learn cycles of plant bioengineering. With the advent of synthetic biology, biological and molecular components derived from alternate natural organisms (e.g., microbes) and/or de novo parts have been used to build GEPBs. In this review, we summarize the framework for engineering different types of GEPBs. We then highlight representative validated biological components for building plant-based biosensors, along with various applications of plant-based biosensors in basic and applied plant science research. Finally, we discuss challenges and strategies for the identification and design of biological components for plant-based biosensors.