Transgenic Plants

The aim of Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols is to provide a source of information to guide the reader through a wide range of frequently used, broadly applicable, and easily reproducible techniques involved in the gene- tion of transgenic plants.

Transgenic plants serve as essential tools for research in plant biology and are the basis of modern agricultural biotechnology. In Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols, leading scientists describe readily reproducible techniques they have perfected for the genetic transformation and regeneration of plants. The authors cover the most commonly used transformation systems, including Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Agrobacterium rhizogenes, particle bombardment, electroporation, floral-dip, and chloroplast transformation, as well as the regeneration of whole transgenic plants by organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis from different explant cells/tissues and from such diverse plant species as tomato, cassava, conifers, and citrus. Also described are the use of selectable and reporter markers, positive selection (for maize transformation), and the controlled excision and removal of marker genes from both nuclei and plastids once transgenic shoots have been efficiently generated. Additional techniques employ quantitative real-time PCR, reverse transcription PCR, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR. Risk assessment methods offer the opportunity to study Agrobacterium persistence in plant tissues and to investigate the possibility of transgene dispersal. The protocols follow the successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, each one offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of the necessary equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Comprehensive and easy to use, Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols offers both novice and experienced researchers a cutting-edge laboratory manual covering all aspects of plant genetic transformation and transgenic crops.

The aim of Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols is to provide a source of information to guide the reader through a wide range of frequently used, broadly applicable, and easily reproducible techniques involved in the gene- tion of transgenic plants. Its step-by-step approach covers a series of methods for genetically transforming plant cells and tissues, and for recovering whole transgenic plants from them. The volume then moves on to the use of sele- able and reporter markers, positive selection, marker elimination after rec- ery of transgenic plants, and the analysis of transgene integration, expression, and localization in the plant genome. Although contributors usually refer to model plants in most chapters, the protocols described herein should be widely applicable to many plant species. The last two sections are devoted to me- ods of risk assessment and to exploring the current and future applications of transgenic technology in agriculture and its social implications in a case study. Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols is divided into six major s- tions plus an introduction, comprising 27 chapters. Part I, the Introduction, is a review of the past, present, and perspectives of the transgenic plants, from the discovery of Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a feasible transformation vector, to its use as a tool to study gene expression and function, and the current and possible future applications of this technology in agriculture, industry, and medicine.