Prions can be taken up by plants

Researchers in Wisconsin have a particular interest in prions because they are responsible for an endemic "chronic wasting disease" in wild deer.  Now new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison has documented that the responsible prions can be taken up by plants:

Prions — the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer — can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes...

The research further demonstrated that stems and leaves from tainted plants were infectious when injected into laboratory mice. The findings are significant, according to the researchers and other experts, because they reveal a previously unknown potential route of exposure to prions for a Wisconsin deer herd in which the fatal brain illness continues to spread...

Previous studies have shown the disease can be transmitted animal-to-animal and via soil... 

It is worth emphasizing that there is no evidence to date of these particular prions being transmissible to humans, and the relevance of this plant uptake to spread of the disease in deer has not been established.  The quoted research has not yet been submmitted to a peer-reviewed journal.