&CHAPTER 10

Transgenic Plant Production

JOHN FINER and TANIYA DHILLON

Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, OARDC/The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio

10.0. CHAPTER SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVES

10.0.1 Summary

Foreign genes are transferred into plants primarily using one of two methods:Agrobacterium

tumefaciens—or particle bombardment-mediated transformation, Agrobacterium-mediated

transformation relies on a natural genetic engineer: the causal agent of crown gall

disease in plants, which is one of the most intriguing stories in plant pathology particle

bombardment-mediated transformation relies on accelerating DNA-coated microscopic par-

ticles into plant cells to deliver DNA to the genome. There are other less widely used

methods and plenty of potential technological development opportunities to improve trans-

formation efficiency. Finally, there are scores of methods that researchers have reported

to be successful, but with little follow-up data, which might indicate that they are not

very effective.

10.0.2 Discussion Questions

1. What is a transgene/transgenic plant?


2. What part or parts of the plant cell provide the most resistance to DNA introduction?


3. In the case of a successful DNA introduction, where in the target cell does the foreign
   DNA end up?


4. What are some differences between physical and biological methods for DNA intro-
   duction into plant cells?


5. What are some ways that the biological method for DNA introduction
   (Agrobacterium) has been improved over the years?


6. How is gene introduction performed with the model plant,Arabidopsis? Is this tech-
   nique widely applied to other plants?


7. What are the size and composition of the particles that are used for the particle bom-
   bardment method?

Plant Biotechnology and Genetics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications, Edited by C. Neal Stewart, Jr.

Copyright#2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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