During the past
decade, enormous technological advances have occurred in biology that
have led to significant and revolutionary developments. New techniques allow
genetic transformations through cell fusion and by the insertion or
modification of genetic information through the cloning of DNA. Methods are now
available for manipulating organs, tissues, cells, or protoplasts in culture,
for regenerating plants, and for testing the genetic basis of novel traits.
Whether these techniques can be successfully applied to all species, and not
merely to a few, is currently the focus of numerous investigations. However,
the potential for exploiting modern molecular biological technology for plant
breeding and genetics is vast and virtually untapped.
The recent
developments in genetic engineering permit the plant breeder to bypass the
various natural breeding barriers that have limited control of the transfer of
genetic information in higher organisms. Recombinant DNA technology allows for
the selection and production of amplified copies of specific DNA segments that
can then be transferred by appropriate vectors into specific plant cells. The
Ti (tumor inducing) plasmid carried by Agrobacterium tumefaciens has, to date,
proven to be the most efficient vector in transferring DNA in higher plants
(discussed in this volume). The full benefits of genetic engineering of plants,
or any eukaryotes, will be realized only if adequate systems of selection for
desired traits and transfer of specific desirable sequences of DNA are
effected, and only if these sequences can be properly regulated for expression
in the desired tissue at the proper time during development.
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