BROAD-SCALE PRODUCTION OF TRANSGENIC PLANTS CAN MITIGATE THE URGENT NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE AND HIGH-YIELDING CROPS. LEVERAGING NANOMATERIALS BELOW THE PLANT CELL WALL SIZE EXCLUSION LIMIT TO CREATE PLANT GENETIC TRANSFORMANTS WILL ENABLE AN EFFICIENT METHOD FOR PRODUCING GENE EDITED NON-TRANSGENIC CROPS TO MEET OUR FOOD AND ENERGY NEEDS.THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL VALIDATE NANOMATERIALS AS A PASSIVE GENE AND PROTEIN DELIVERY TOOL IN PLANTS, AND WILL ENABLE EFFICIENT GENE EDITING OF PLANTS AND PLASTIDS WITHOUT TRANSGENIC DNAINTEGRATION. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE OBJECTIVE 1: TO SYNTHESIZE AND CHARACTERIZE NANOMATERIALS AND DETERMINE THEIR FATE WHEN INTERFACED WITH PLANTS, OBJECTIVE 2: TESTING AND CONFIRMING TTHAT NANOMATERIALS CAN PRODUCE TRANSGENIC PLANTS, AND OBJECTIVE 3: DELIVERY OF GENOME EDITING DNA VECTORS BY WHICH TO PERMANENTLY EDIT THE PLANT GENOME. KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF NANOPARTICLE-PLANT INTERACTIONS WILL ALSO INFORM ORTHOGONAL AREAS OF RESEARCH THAT STAND TO BENEFIT FROM NANOSCALE TOOLS FOR PLANT BIOLOGY: PLASTID AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS GENETIC ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF NANOMATERIALS, AND DEVELOPMENT OF NANOSCALE TOOLS TIME-CONTROLLED RELEASE AND INCREASED UPTAKE OF NUTRIENTS IN PLANTS. FURTHERMORE, SUCCESS IN RNP DELIVERY COULD PRODUCE A HIGH-EFFICIENCY AND SPECIES-INDEPENDENT PLATFORM WITH PASSIVE (NON-BIOLISTIC) DELIVERY BY WHICH TO GENETICALLY MODIFY PLANTS WITHOUT DNA.