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8. Plant Development, Food Production
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Plant Development and Food Production
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Plants as Experimental SystemsAppreciate that plants are excellent experimental systems
Plants are excellent systems for experiments:
1. There are a number of issues with using animals with experiments…plants do not have many
of these ethical concerns
2. For some plants we know all the genes…and have the tools to study what proteins do
3. Can regenerate whole plants from single cells in culture: somatic embryogenesis
Plant cells show totipotency
4. Easy to introduce new genes into plants
i. Tools for experimentation
ii. To improve crops
▪ Disease resistance
▪ Stress tolerance
▪ Altered composition of harvested product
Describe methods available to introduce foreign genes into plants
Foreign genes can be introduced into plants using several methods, including Agrobacterium and
biolistic.
• Genetic transformation means direct introduction of new genetic information
• Genetically modified plants are called transgenic plants
Biolistic Method:
• Microscopic particles of gold are coated with purified
plasmids that contains genes and coding of desired traits
• These particles are transferred onto a plastic membrane
which is placed under the gene gun
• Then helium is discharged under great pressure forcing the
gold particles with coated plasmids into the plant cell
• (The gene gun with the help of helium pulse accelerates
these particles to extremely high velocities. The result is
they are able to penetrate the cell walls and membranes
and get into the cell.)
• After the DNA-coated gold particles have been delivered to the cells, the DNA is used as a
template for transcription (transient expression) and sometimes it integrates into a
plant chromosome ('stable' transformation)
• If the delivered DNA construct contains a selectable marker, then stably transformed cells
can be selected and cultured using tissue culture methods. For example, if the delivered
DNA construct contains a gene that confers resistance to an antibiotic or herbicide, then
stably transformed cells may be selected by including that antibiotic or herbicide in the
tissue culture media.
• Transformed cells can be treated with a series of plant hormones, such
as auxins and gibberellins, and each may divide and differentiate into the organized,
specialized, tissue cells of an entire plant. This capability of total re-generation is
called totipotency. The new plant that originated from a successfully transformed cell may
have new traits that are heritable.
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