A transkingdom platform for the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids toepithelial tissues where the nucleic acids aredesigned to have enhanced stability. The platform offers numerous improvementsto prior delivery platforms including expression ofthe double-stranded RNA binding domain (dsRBD) domains of TAR RNA bindingprotein (TRBP), knockout of RNase R activityin the bacterial delivery vehicle, and expression of the methyltransferasegene, HEN1, for simultaneous packaging with a therapeuticnucleic acid delivery vehicle.