• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.401-410
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• 2006

The plastid transformation approach offers a number of unique advantages, including high-level transgene expression, multi-gene engineering, transgene containment, and a lack of gene silencing and position effects. The extension of plastid transformation technology to monocotyledonous cereal crops, including rice, bears great promise for the improvement of agronomic traits, and the efficient production of pharmaceutical or nutritional enhancement. Here, we report a promising step towards stable plastid transformation in rice. We produced fertile transplastomic rice plants and demonstrated transmission of the plastidexpressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) and aminoglycoside 3′-adenylyltransferase genes to the progeny of these plants. Transgenic chloroplasts were determined to have stably expressed the GFP, which was confirmed by both confocal microscopy and Western blot analyses. Although the produced rice plastid transformants were found to be heteroplastomic, and the transformation efficiency requires further improvement, this study has established a variety of parameters for the use of plastid transformation technology in cereal crops.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2001

Plastid transformation was attempted with soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] leaves and photoautotrophic and embryogenic cultures by particle bombardment using the transforming vector pZVII that carries the coding sequences for both subunits of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Rubisco and a spectinomycin resistance gene (aadA). Spectinomycin resistant calli were selected from the bombarded leaves but the transgene was not present, indicating that the resistance was due to mutations. The Chlamydomonas rbcL and rbcS genes were shown to be site-specifically integrated into the plastid genome of the embryogenic cells with a very low transformation efficiency. None of the transformed embryogenic lines survived the plant regeneration process so no whole plants were recovered. This result does indicate that it should be possible to insert genes into the plastid genome of the important crop soybean if the overall methods are improved.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.323-330
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• 2019

The high expression level of industrial and metabolically important proteins in plants can be achieved by plastid transformation. The CaIA vector, a Capsicum-specific vector harboring aadA (spectinomycin resistance), is a selectable marker controlled by the PsbA promoter, and the terminator is flanked by the trnA and trnI regions of the inverted repeat (IR) region of the plastid. The CaIA vector can introduce foreign genes into the IR region of the plastid genome. The biolistic method was used for chloroplast transformation in Scoparia dulcis with leaf explants followed by antibiotic selection on regeneration medium. Transplastomes were successfully screened, and the transformation efficiency of 3 transgenic lines from 25 bombarded leaf explants was determined. Transplastomic lines were evaluated by PCR and Southern blotting for the confirmation of aadA insertion and its integration into the chloroplast genome. Seeds collected from transplastomes were analyzed on spectinomycin medium with wild types to determine genetic stability. The increased chloroplast transformation efficiency (3 transplastomic lines from 25 bombarded explants) would be useful for expressing therapeutically and industrially important genes in Scoparia dulcis L.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2002

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.75-84
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• 2006

Heteroplasmic rice plastid transformant was generated using suspension cells as bombardment materials. PCR analyses confirmed incorporation of aadA and cp4-epsps genes into the rice plastid genome by homologous recombination events via the flanking sequences of the trnI and trnA. Transplastomic calli were actively proliferated when cultured on AAM2 medium supplemented with various concentrations (500-3000 mg/L) of streptomycin in dark condition, and transplastomic suspension cells showed resistance to nonselective herbicide, glyphosate. Through 'agarose pie selection' method, heteroplastomic calli, containing considerably high level of transplastome and expressing the CP4 EPSPS protein, were obtained. They were further regenerated to green shoots with healthy roots.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2010

Eighteen cultivars of tomato were tested for their regeneration response. Lycopersicon esculentum cv. 2001-58 showed a very high frequency of regeneration (93%). We evaluated the effect of two compounds with known antioxidant activity (ascorbic acid and cystein). The use of ascorbic acid ($200\;-\;300\;{\mu}M/L$) has a positive effect on shoot regeneration. To develope a system for plastid transformation in tomato via homologous recombination, we constructed the tomato plastid expression vector (pKRT22-AG) harboring 2.2 kb flanking sequences cloned from intact plastid genome and gfp gene. To investigate the factors affecting the delivery system of the pKRT22-AG into chloroplast using bombardment, We assessed the optimal DNA concentration, gold particle volume and target distance. Expression of the GFP protein was observed within chloroplast on protoplast of cotyledon explant by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which indicates that the protocol developed in this study be useful for the production of plastid transgenic plants in tomato.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2011

Chloroplast genetic engineering of higher plants offers several unique advantages compared with nuclear genome transformation, such as high levels of transgene expression, a lack of position effect due to site-specific transgene integration by homologous recombination, multigene engineering in a single transformation event and reducing risks of gene flow via pollen due to maternal inheritance. We established a reproducible chloroplast transformation system of potato using a tobacco specific plastid transformation vector, pCtVG (trnI-Prrn-aadA-mgfp-TpsbA-trnA). Stable transgene integration into chloroplast genomes and the homoplasmic state of the transgenome were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analyses. Northern, immunoblot analysis, and GFP fluorescence imaging revealed high expression and accumulation of GFP in the plastids of potato leaves. This system would provide new opportunities for genetic improvement and mass production of value added foreign proteins in this crop.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.55-60
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• 2000

Experiments initiated 30 years ago to obtain selectable markers have led to a series of studies of Trp biosynthesis and anthranilate synthase (AS) the control enzyme using largely plant tissue cultures since they have experimental properties that can be readily exploited. Enzymological and compound feeding studies provided evidence that AS is the control point in the Trp biosynthesis branch and that altering the AS feedback control by the selection of mutants resistant to the Trp analog 5-methyl-tryptophan (5MT) can lead to the overproduction of this important amino acid. Plants regenerated from these Trp overproducing lines of most species also had high free Trp levels but Nicotiana tabaum (tobacco) plants expressed the feedback altered AS only in cultured cells and not in the regenerated plants. further tests by transient and stable expression of the cloned promoter for the naturally occurring tobacco feedback-insensitive AS, denoted ASA2, confirmed the tissue culture specific nature of the expression control. The 5MT caused by the expression of a feedback-insensitive AS from tobacco has been used to select protoplast fusion hybrids with several species since the resistance is expressed dominantly. Recently the ASA2 gene has been used successfully as a selectable marker to select transformed Astragalus sinicus and Glycine max hairy roots induced by Agrobactetium rhizogenes. These results show that the ASA2y-subunit can interact with the y-subunit of another species to form active feedback-insensitive enzyme that may be useful for selecting transformed cells. Plastid DNA transformation of tobacco has also effectively expressed ASA2 in the compartment in which Trp biosynthesis is localized in the cell.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.233-241
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• 2005

Plants have considerable advantages for the production of antigenic proteins because they provide an inexpensive source of protein and an easy administration of vaccine. Since a publication describing edible plant vaccine of HBsAg in 1992, a number of laboratories around the world have studied the use of plants as the bioreactor to produce antigenic proteins of human or animal pathogens. Over the last ten years, these works have been mainly focused on three major strategies for the production of antigenic proteins in plants: stable genetic transformation of either the nuclear or plastid genome, or transient expression in plants using viral vectors. As many antigenic proteins have been expressed in tobacco, also several laboratories have succeeded to express genes encoding antigenic proteins in other crop plants: potato, tomato, maize, carrot, soybean and spinach. At present many works for the production of edible plant vaccine against bacteria-mediated diseases have mostly performed the studies of enterotoxins and adhesion proteins. Also the development of new-type antigens (pili, flagella, surface protein, other enterotoxin and exotoxin etc.) is required for various targets and more efficacy to immunize against microorganism pathogens. Many works mostly studied in experimental animals had good results, and phase I clinical trial of LTB clearly indicated its immunogenic ability. On the other hand, edible plant vaccines have still problems remained to be solved. In addition to the accumulation of sufficient antigen in plants, human health, environment and agriculture regulation should be proven. Also oral tolerance, the physiological response to food antigens and commensal flora is the induction of a state of specific immunological unresponsiveness, needs to be addressed before plant-derived vaccine becomes a therapeutic option.