Gene Transfer Methods in Plants, Empryo Stem (ES) Cells, Zygote, Organs, Genotypes

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	Gene Transfer Methods in Plants -We discussed in some detail the methods used for gene transfer in animals, particularly mammals. For production of transgenic animals, DNA is usually microinjected into pronuclei of embryonic cells at a very early stage after fertilization, or alternatively gene targeting of embryo stem (ES) cells is employed. This is possible in animals due to the availability of specialized in vitro fertilization technology, which allows manipulation of ovule, zygote or early embryo.
Such techniques are not available in plants. In contrast to this in higher plants, cells or protoplasts can be cultured and used for regeneration of whole plants. Therefore, these protoplasts can be used for gene transfer followed by regeneration leading to the production of transgenic plants. Besides cultured cells and protoplasts, other meristem cells (immature embryos or organs), pollen or zygotes can also be used for gene transfer in plants. The enormous diversity of plant species and the availability of diverse genotypes in a species, made it necessary to develop a variety of techniques, suiting different situations. These different methods of gene transfer in plants will be discussed in this chapter.