Bayer Crop Science: Accelerating membrane protein research for crop protection
March 9, 2026
Bayer Crop Science used eProtein Discovery™ to screen and purify challenging agricultural membrane proteins, delivering 4–5 fold faster workflow turnaround. This case study is based on a presentation by Wenguang Liang, Senior Scientist at Bayer Crop Science, at PepTalk 2026.
The critical role of membrane proteins in crop science
Figure 1. Wenguang Liang, Senior Scientist at Bayer Crop Science, presenting at PepTalk 2026 on the challenges of membrane proteins for crop protection.
Developing the next generation of crop protection requires a deep understanding of plant and pest biology. Membrane proteins are central to this mission, serving as the primary targets for insect control traits, herbicide tolerance, and disease management.
Bayer, in particular, is a global leader in the development of insect control traits and herbicide resistance traits for plants, many of which act on membrane protein receptors.
However, these proteins are notoriously difficult to produce and require a specific lipid membrane environment to maintain their structure and function. Without purified membrane proteins, critical crop protection studies may face significant delays.
The challenge: The “trial-and-error” cycle
For Bayer, the traditional pipeline for expressing these proteins was slow and unpredictable. The team primarily relied on insect cell expression, a complex process involving multiple biological steps.
“From DNA to baculovirus to cells and to purification, the whole cycle took at least a month,” said Wenguang Liang, Senior Scientist at Bayer Crop Science.
Even when expression was successful, the resulting protein was often inactive, aggregated, or difficult to purify, forcing the team to restart the cycle from scratch.
The Solution: Multiplex Screening with eProtein Discovery™
To break this deadlock, Liang turned to Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery™ system. The system leverages cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) and digital microfluidics (cartridge) to multiplex screen DNA constructs against various expression conditions. The expressed proteins are also purified on-cartridge for purifiability assessment and yield determination.
Liang describes this expression and purification workflow as straightforward and automatic. “The setup is about 30 minutes. After 20 to 24 hours, you’ll get the results back,” he said. “The loading on the cartridge is very straightforward with step-by-step instructions.”
Crucially for membrane proteins, the system allowed Bayer to screen membrane scaffold proteins and lipids (preassembled nanodiscs) in parallel—a capability not feasible with their previous workflows. This parallelization enables researchers to identify the precise lipid environment required to keep the protein soluble and active.
Case Study 1: Breaking the months-long deadlock (Protein “A”)
The team tested “Protein A,” a membrane protein that had failed in every other expression system available to them. Previous attempts using E. coli (multiple solubility and affinity tags), yeast, insect cells, and standard cell-free systems yielded either no expression or unusable, aggregated protein.
Using eProtein Discovery, the team screened for expression and immediately identified a specific condition (MSP1D1dH5 with DMPC lipid) that yielded soluble protein with high purification efficiency (~50%). They successfully scaled this condition up to produce 0.1 mg/mL of purified protein.
“After scale-up, we purified a very beautiful band,” Liang said. “That was very exciting for us because we’ve been trying everything we could try for several months.”
Figure 2. A comparison of expression screening results for the challenging “Protein A.” Traditional methods—including E. coli, insect cells, yeast, and non-Nuclera cell-free systems—failed to produce usable protein or showed no expression . In contrast, the Nuclera system successfully identified an optimal condition, enabling scale-up to 0.1 mg/mL with high purity.
Liang attributed his success to the unique capabilities of eProtein Discovery to screen multiple constructs and nanodiscs (membrane scaffold proteins and lipids) simultaneously. This wasn’t something that was feasible when they first attempted cell-free expression with another system. “This screening is important for the scale-up to be successful,” he added.
Case Study 2: Superior Protein Quality (Protein “B”)
Bayer also compared the quality of Protein “B” produced via eProtein Discovery against their best traditional method (insect cells). While insect cells successfully expressed the protein, the purification results were suboptimal. Western blots showed a “laddering” effect, indicating degradation or aggregation, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) revealed poor particle distribution and high heterogeneity.
By utilizing eProtein Discovery to multiplex screen and optimize conditions for Protein “B,” Liang was able to produce protein resulting in a clean, single band on SDS-PAGE and significantly improved particle distribution on TEM.
Figure 3. SDS-PAGE and TEM negative stain quality assessment of Protein “B” produced via insect cells (left) versus Nuclera cell-free protein synthesis (right).
Liang attributed this improvement to the system’s ability to synthesize the protein directly into a nanodisc environment, avoiding the harsh detergents often required to extract proteins from cell membranes.
“Nuclera’s cell-free expression actually works much better than the insect cell purification,” said Liang. “With this cell-free system, you can directly insert the protein into the lipid environment… That really helps with the purification.”
Impact: From Months to Days
The adoption of eProtein Discovery has transformed the timeline for membrane protein production at Bayer.
- Speed: Purification can be completed in 2-3 days, compared to 2-3 months for traditional methods.
- Success rate: 8 out of 9 membrane proteins screened had good expression and purification on the first try.
- Decision-making: The system generates decision-grade data overnight, acting as a “GPS” to guide researchers toward the best constructs and conditions.
- Sufficient yield: Produces enough protein for assays, functional studies, and structural studies.
While Liang initially thought that eProtein Discovery “sounded too good to be true”, his experience with the system brought what he thought was impossible into a reality. Liang encouraged, “If you are interested in this technology, contact Nuclera. It might surprise you.”
Interested in more case studies about agricultural proteins? Check out our case study with Syngenta
