1932

Abstract

Synthetic chromosomes provide the means to stack transgenes independently of the remainder of the genome. Combining them with haploid breeding could provide the means to transfer many transgenes more easily among varieties of the same species. The epigenetic nature of centromere formation complicates the production of synthetic chromosomes. However, telomere-mediated truncation coupled with the introduction of site-specific recombination cassettes has been used to produce minichromosomes consisting of little more than a centromere. Methods that have been developed to modify genes in vivo could be applied to minichromosomes to improve their utility and to continue to increase their length and genic content. Synthetic chromosomes establish the means to add or subtract multiple transgenes, multigene complexes, or whole biochemical pathways to plants to change their properties for agricultural applications or to use plants as factories for the production of foreign proteins or metabolites.

Associated Article

There are media items related to this article:
A Lecture in Plant Biology: Engineered Minichromosomes in Plants
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103924
2012-06-02
2024-12-01
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103924
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103924
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Watch a lecture from co-author James A. Birchler on engineered minichromosomes in plants.

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error