Bioluminescent sentinel plants enable autonomous diagnostics of viral infections

Abstract

Plants engineered with synthetic genetic programs can transform how we monitor and manage the extension of crop pests and diseases. Here, we establish a bioluminescent platform in Nicotiana benthamiana for autonomous viral sensing based on the fungal bioluminescence pathway (FBP). We first demonstrate that recombinant viruses can deliver missing pathway components, enabling spatially resolved tracking of infection dynamics. Leveraging this starting point, we developed a dual-output sentinel circuit that uses a protease-responsive Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) module to report infection through a virus-triggered spectral shift in luminescence. In the absence of infection, plants emit a stable yellow glow indicating system integrity. Upon infection with potyviruses, cleavage of the BRET fusion by the virus-encoded NIa-Pro protease activates a distinct colour change detectable with low-cost imaging. This modular design is compatible with other pathogens carrying specific proteases and supports future multiplexing strategies. Our results highlight the potential of synthetic sentinel gene circuits as autonomous biosensors for precision crop protection.

Plant phenotyping relevance

植物のウイルス感染状態を発光変化として検出するセンチネル回路と低コスト画像診断プラットフォームの開発が中心であり、病害状態のフェノタイピング手法に該当する。

Code and data availability

The supplied blocks describe a custom Python/PyQt5/OpenCV pipeline for quantifying viral bioluminescence and Fiji-based image analysis, but no public deposit, repository, or availability URL for the code, datasets, or images is provided. The only URLs mentioned (IDT Codon Optimization Tool, GoldenBraid, ROSCO filter My

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.