Assembled Autonomous Chromosones in Maize for Improved Biofuel Crops

American scientists reported a technique for the introduction of an entire "cassette" of novel genes into a plant that is both structurally stable and functional, via their “maize mini chromosomes” (MMCs). Their findings are published in the open access journal, PLoS Genetics (URL above). The MMCs, which can be considered as “artificial plant chromosomes” or “autonomous chromosomes”, were constructed from “small rings of naturally occurring plant DNA, and can be used to transport multiple genes at once into embryonic plants” (Biopact website). Once introduced, the MMCs are said to behave like ordinary chromosomes, distinct, and structurally stable, with the genes expressed during plant duplication and transmitted through mitosis and meiosis. In contrast, traditional methods for creating transgenic plants involve methods that integrate DNA fragments into a host chromosome. University of Chicago professor and paper co-author, Daphne Preuss, says that the technology can have many useful agricultural productivity applications, including the production of improved biofuel crops.

Related information on artificial chromosomes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_chromosomes