Tag: biotechnology in agriculture

There are several methods for introducing genes into plants, including:

•     Infecting plant cells with plasmids as vectors carrying the desired gene.
•     Shooting microscopic pellets containing the gene directly into the cell.

In contrast to animals, there is no real distinction between somatic cells and germline cells. Somatic tissues of plants, e.g., root cells grown in culture

•     can be transformed in the laboratory with the desired gene;
•     grown into mature plants with flowers.

If all goes well, the transgene will be incorporated into the pollen and eggs and passed on to the next generation.
In this respect, it is easier to produce transgenic plants than transgenic animals.
 Progress is being made on several fronts to introduce new traits into plants using recombinant DNA technology.
The genetic manipulation of plants has been going on since the dawn of agriculture, but until recently this has required the slow and tedious process of cross-breeding varieties. Genetic engineering promises to speed the process and broaden the scope of what can be done.

Transgenic tomato plants expressing a truncated insect control protein gene from Bacillus thuringiensis were  protected from attack by tobacco hornworm, tobacco budworm and tomato fruit worm larvae. Filed tests involving transgenic tomato lines challenged with tobacco hornworm, tomato fruit worm and tomato pin worm were conducted for two years. These transgenic plants suffered only minor feeding damage from tobacco hornworm, while the untransformed controls were completely defoliated. The foreign gene present had made this possible.

A tumor (crown gall) inducing plasmid widely used in the production of transgenic plants is Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Bacillus thuringiensis is used for the production of disease-resistant plants. Other 2 are disease-causing bacteria.

The tobacco plant was genetically modified by introducing a gene to produce antibodies. The plant was introduced with the gene for producing antibodies against the rabies virus which are similar to the antibodies produced in the humans. The antibodies from the plant can be purified and used as injections or vaccines. These vaccines help in providing immunity against the rabies virus.