Genetic transformation of plants

Tzfira, T. and Citovsky, V., Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of plants biology and biotechnology. Cum. Opin. Biotechnol. 17, 147, 2006. 

Genetic transformation of plants for the purpose of enhancing biological control will still be some time away. These traits, however, could be well suited for the... 

A number of different methods for stable or transient genetic transformation of plants or plant cells have been developed [13-15]. These comprise particle bombardment, Agro actermm-mediated transformation, floral dip transformation, agrodrench, viral vectors, protoplast transformation and ultrasound. These are the main techniques for the genetic transformation of plants, and many of them have also been applied for the transformation of secondary metabolite pathways in an attempt to alter the metabolic pathways of target... 

Genetic engineering and transformation of plant cells are likely to yield exciting results in the near future, providing that questions of biological interest will be asked and that biologists will not be transformed into engineers. 

Protoplasts are osmotically weak plant cells dispossessed of their cell wall, also referred to as naked cells. Upon removal of the cell wall, protoplast can behave like animal cells which by nature have no cell wall barrier. Protoplasts have the potential ability to redifferentiate into whole plants due to their totipotency, and this has been exploited for genetic modification of plants however, there exist many recalcitrant plant species which have not been able to be transformed following this method, either because of failure to isolate viable protoplasts or impossibility of regeneration. 

Transformed cultures of C. ipecacuanha, one of the recalcitrant woody plant species for Agrobacterium-mQdaaiQd transformation, have been established by a co-culture method. This work is the first report on transformation of ipecac as far as we know and this proved a capability of genetic transformation of ipecac by use of Agrobacterium-mQdiaiQd transformation. Growth of the transformed roots with only Tl-DNA was inferior to the previously reported hairy roots. However, optimization of culture conditions, basal medium and auxin addition could improve fresh mass and ipecac alkaloid productivity. The transformed root cultures presented herein may be a promising tool for an alternative source of ipecac alkaloids and for biosynthetic and transport studies of ipecac alkaloids. 

Lohuis, M.R. and Miller, D.J. 1998. Genetic transformation of dinoflagellates (Amphidinium and Symbiodinium) Expression of GUS in microalgae using heterologous promoter constructs. Plant J. 13, 427-435. 

Iwai, M., Katoh, H., Katayama, M., and Ikeuchi, M. (2004) Improved genetic transformation of the thermophilic cyanobacterium, Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1. Plant Cell Physiol,... 

Vardi A, Bleichman S, Aviv D (1990) Genetic transformation of Citrus protoplasts and regeneration of transgenic plants. Plant Sci 69 199-206... 

Han KH, Fleming P, Walker K, Loper M, Chilton WS, Mocek U, Gordon MP, Floss HG (1994) Genetic transformation of mature Taxus an approach to genetically control the in vitro production of the anticancer drug, taxol. Plant Sci 95 187-196... 

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