Abstract: The present invention relates to nanoparticles and their use to form nanocomposite material, in particular bionanocomposite material, specifically wherein the nanoparticles are formed using plant virus attached to a scaffold of cellulosic material and/or cellulose derived materials, in particular wherein said cellulosic material further comprises plant cell components, for example hemicellulose, pectin, protein or combinations thereof.

Abstract: The present invention relates to nanoparticles and their use to form nanocomposite material, in particular bionanocomposite material, specifically wherein the nanoparticles are formed using plant virus attached to a scaffold of cellulosic material and/or cellulose derived materials, in particular wherein said cellulosic material further comprises plant cell components, for example hemicellulose, pectin, protein or combinations thereof.

Abstract: There is provided a method for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation of a host cell. The method uses an Agrobacterium which expresses a VirD2 protein resistant to cleavage by a caspase. The VirD2 protein is modified by replacement of an aspartic acid residue with an alternative amino acid at one or more of the caspase cleavage sites within the protein amino acid sequence. This method improves the low efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer in certain plant cells and in animal cells caused by caspase cleavage of the VirD2 protein. The modified VirD2 protein, a gene for its expression and a method of producing a protein of interest by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of a host cell are also described.