The present invention relates to methods modifying cell surface markers of red blood cells (RBCs) and uses of the same. In particular, the method comprises contacting an RBC with a peptide in the presence of a ligase, under suitable conditions and for sufficient time to allow ligation of the peptide to the RBC to form an RBC-peptide conjugate. In one embodiment, the ligase is OaAEPI ligase. The RBC-peptide conjugate may be further contacted with an effector molecule under suitable conditions and for sufficient time for conjugation of the effector molecule to the RBC-peptide to form an RBC-peptide-effector molecule conjugate.

The present invention lies in the technical field of enzymatic (poly)peptide ligation and specifically relates to methods that allow the ligation of (poly)peptides and oligonucleotides. The methods comprise providing at least one cargo molecule modified with a peptide tag and at least one poly(peptide) to be ligated to the cargo molecule, wherein the peptide tag and/or the (poly)peptide comprises a ligation motif for a peptide ligase, preferably sortase and peptidyl asparaginyl ligases (PALs), such as butelase-1, VyPAL2 or OaAEPI b. The invention also relates to the resulting conjugates and the corresponding uses.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for increasing the growth, growth rate, and/or yield of a plant that lacks root nodules by engineering it to overexpress the protein asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase 1 (NARS1). Specifically, the present invention provides plants that are engineered to overexpress NARS1, seeds produced by said plants, and methods of generating and growing said plants.