The Roles of HMGA Proteins Essay

In this study, rice will be exposed to osmotic stress condition, whereby it will show: a higher accumulation of proline and soluble sugars, reduced levels of MDA and minimized water loss rate compared to wild types of plant. Still, the stress-responsive gene OsHsfC1b will exhibit a significantly higher expression levels in rice than in transgenic plants under similar environmental conditions. Although OsHsfC1b has been evaluated purposely for its significance in drought

The origin of GMOs started in 1982 by an experiment done by the United States Department of Agriculture, in which they changed the genes of a tomato plant. Commercial use of Genetically Engineered crops began in 1996 (Fernandez-Cornejo et al. pg 7). While developing Genetically Modified Organisms, scientists and researchers characterized the types of Genetically Engineered crop traits into

The experiments purpose was to understand and observe the gene expressions in the genes pCNT103, cig1 and GapC in the shoot, root and callus tissues of the tobacco plant, Nicotiana tabacum. Using various genetic laboratory research techniques completed the experiment. The experiment consisted of four parts. The sterile tissue culture technique was used to differentiate the tobacco callus tissue in


Bloom's Level: 1. Remember
Learning Outcome: 06.01.03 Predict the outcome of crosses involving genetic variation in chloroplast genomes.
Section: 06.01
Topic: Extranuclear Inheritance: Chloroplasts

Many farmers in Canada have welcomed major crop plants produced by genetic engineering. Four major transgenic crops including canola, corn, soy and sugar beet have been approved for commercial production in Canada (Canada & Agency, 2015). Transgenic organisms offer a range of benefits in the agricultural applications. Over many years, transgenic organisms have helped increase crop productivity by introducing drought tolerance and disease resistance to crops. Today, scientist has been able to select genes for disease resistant from other organism and relocate them to essential crops. For example, in the 1980, researchers from University of Hawaii teamed up with Cornell University to develop a papaya cultivar resistant to papaya

This procedure has also been performed successfully in the lab with dicots, broadleaf plants, soybeans and tomatoes for many years. Through this procedure, the desired gene and marker is inserted into the tDNA of the plasmid. Tissues of the organism are then transferred to a medium containing an antibiotic or herbicide in order to tell if the organism has successfully taken up the desired gene because only the tissues expressing the marker will survive. These tissues are then grown under controlled environmental conditions in tissue cultures containing nutrients and hormones so that whole plants are grown. When plants are grown and have produced seed, an evaluation of the progeny is done making sure that the desired traits have been passed on (Understanding GMOs).

One example of evolution in species today is the mustard plant “ Arabidopsis Thaliana”. According to Charles Darwin, “mutations are a raw material of evolution,” meaning that those organisms better fit for the ever-changing environment will most likely have the strongest type of DNA to be able to pass on to its offspring and allow its species to successfully survive. And he recognizes these differentiations occur due to new mutations in an organism’s genome(1). The entire genome of the “Arabidopsis Thaliana” was compared already in just a few years twenty DNA building blocks were mutated in each of the five family lines. The rate of transformation there is faster than usual for it to mutate that amount of DNA building blocks in such a short amount of time.

The Brassica rapa is a rapid growing plant that has a standard form and a mutant rosette form. Relative to normal plants, the rosette form is shorter and takes longer to flower. The mode of inheritance of the rosette gene was tested by crossing two true-breeding plants, one of each form. The F1 generation was then cross-pollinated to produce an F2 generation. The phenotypes of each generation were recorded and a chi-square test was performed. The F1 offspring were almost entirely standard form, and the F2 followed the Mendelian ratio of

This particular promoter is vital for the survival and success of the soybean, which is why it considered to be a dependable promoter not only for soybeans, but for other genetically modified crops such as maize and beans. Monsanto used β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a selectable marker, to be the vehicle to transport the promoter and insert the CP4 EPSPS through transcriptional replacement (Jefferson, 1987). The GUS gene served as evidence of transformation; the GUS enzyme converts 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl β-D-glucuronide into a blue precipitate (Agricultural Group of Monsanto Company, 1993). Soybeans that were not transgenic would not produce this blue color when exposed to the aforementioned substrate, indicating that transformation did not take

Genetic engineering is the application of modern technology and molecular biology tools to alter the characteristics or traits of an organism. It is a genetic splicing technique of biotechnology that allows scientists to inject a DNA removed from one organism into another. The alteration occurs through the addition of new genetic material or deletion of an existing genetic characteristic. In crops, genetic engineering is used to create pest and disease resistance plants, drought resistance plants, improve the crops yield and the characteristics of their products (Braux, 2014). Another aim of genetic engineering in plants is to increase the level of amino acids in plant seeds. Increasing the number of amino acids greatly improves the diet of human population and domestic animals that rely on plant seeds as a source of food. In animals, the purpose of

    The development of recombinant DNA techniques have allowed desired genes to be inserted into a plant genomes resulting in plants that are totally different to the parent plant. The first genetically modified plant-antibiotic resistant tobacco and petunias-were produced in 1983, but it was until 1994 that US markets saw the first genetically modified species of tomato, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since then, several transgenic crops have received FDA

The modification at fifth carbon position of a cytosine ring (addition of methyl group to the 5` position of cytosine, thus converting cytosine to 5-methylcytosine (5mC)) is called as DNA methylation. In plants, DNA methylation has usually found in three contexts, methylation at CG, CHG (H replacing A, C or T) and at CHH sites (Chen et al., 2010; Zemach et al., 2010). This DNA methylation accumulated during vegetative phase under influence of environment will be transmitted to next generation through germline

This study successfully demonstrated that CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis in grapes and that the frequency of mutagenesis is relatively stable and efficient. (13) This study also shows a lot of promise for future engineering of altered plants. This study also shows support that CRISPR and Cas 9 can be used to engineer a new plant type, giving scientists another mechanism of plant

Instead of transferring large blocks of genes from donor plant to recipient, small isolated blocks of genes are put into the plant chromosome through biolistics, vectors, or protoplast transformation (Horsch 1993). Biolistics is a technique that shoots the gene block into the potential host cell. In order for the process to succeed, the microscopic particles and DNA must enter the cell nuclei and combine with the plant chromosome. Biolistics is commonly used but has a slight failure risk since the breeder has little control over the destination of the gene block (Mooney & Bernardi 1990). Bacteria or viruses can also carry the gene blocks into a new cell. Common vectors in gene transfer between plants are Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. In the soil, the bacteria will infect the plants with their own plasmid, transferring the desired gene that was placed in the bacteria's DNA. Vector gene transfer is a preferred method of transformation since this modification already occurs naturally in the environment (Rudolph & McIntire 1996). Last is protoplast transformation, which uses enzymes to dissolve the cellulose in the plant wall that leaves a protoplast. Once a specific gene block is added to the protoplast, the cell wall will re-grow into a transgenic plant.

The coding region of the gene is usually fused to a promoter, most commonly used is the 35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus (CMV), in order to promote higher expression levels. (Snow et. al, 1997) The popular method for genetic engineering of crop plants is natural gene transfer via an Agrobacterium tumefaciens vector, a bacterium normally found in soils. The transfer-DNA (T-DNA) vector is made by inserting the desired gene fragment in between specific 25bp repeat domains in the bacterium. The vector is then inserted into the Agrobacterium and "the virulence gene products of Agrobacterium actively recognize, excise, transport, and integrate the T-DNA region into the host plant genomes." (Conner et. al, 1999) The amount of DNA transferred is only about 10kb and the nature of the gene is usually well understood. The expression of the gene introduced can also be controlled by adding additional sequences that might allow the gene to be constitutively expressed, expressed only in certain cell types, or expressed as a result of different environmental changes. This method of gene transfer, however, will only work for the natural host range of the bacterium and therefore other methods are used for additional crop plants. Such methods are uptake of naked DNA by electroporation or particle gun bombardment. The use of genetic markers, as mentioned previously, allows for the preferential growth of cultures that contain the new genetic