Open AccessAgrobacterium ‐mediated transformation of cereals: a promising approach crossing barriers
Author(s) -
Shrawat Ashok Kumar,
Lörz Horst
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2006.00209.x
Subject(s) - agrobacterium , biology , transformation (genetics) , sorghum , agrobacterium tumefaciens , microbiology and biotechnology , agronomy , gene , genetics
Summary Cereal crops have been the primary targets for improvement by genetic transformation because of their worldwide importance for human consumption. For a long time, many of these important cereals were difficult to genetically engineer, mainly as a result of their inherent limitations associated with the resistance to Agrobacterium infection and their recalcitrance to in vitro regeneration. The delivery of foreign genes to rice plants via Agrobacterium tumefaciens has now become a routine technique. However, there are still serious handicaps with Agrobacterium ‐mediated transformation of other major cereals. In this paper, we review the pioneering efforts, existing problems and future prospects of Agrobacterium ‐mediated genetic transformation of major cereal crops, such as rice, maize, wheat, barley, sorghum and sugarcane.