Direct Gene Transformations,Plant Molecular Biologists,Gene Cloning Vectors,Recombinant Gene,Plants Cells,Cereal Protoplasts

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	Direct Gene Transformations - Development of gene-cloning vectors for plants aims at introducing foreign DNA into the plant using some natural system, viral or bacterial. When this is not possible, other methods are sought. Direct transformation implies that the cells take up the foreign gene of interest without the help of a vector. The gene vectors derived from Ti Plasmid have provided a means of testing the activity of recombinant selectable marker genes in plants.
Once a particular recombinant gene has been shown to be active in plant cells and to confer a selectable advantage on the recipient cells, it can be used in experiments aimed at developing more direct ways of introducing isolated genes into plants. Plant molecular biologists would like to apply the new methods of gene transfer to genetic modification of cereals, the major crops of agriculture. Research has been frustrated, however, because Agrobacterium apparently does not infect cereals and because attempts to regenerate whole plants from cereal protoplasts have generally failed.
A number of approaches are currently being explored as alternative ways of transferring genes into cereal plants. These approaches include the uptake of DNA through the cell walls of germinating pollen, protoplasts, and the injection of DNA into germ cells before they undergo meiosis, liposome mediated transfer, and electroporation.