Potato With Altered Fatty Acid Profile and Improved Cold Tolerance

Plant genetic modification has mainly been through the expression of transgenes in the nucleus. But because of certain concerns, like the chance of the transgene escaping via the pollen, scientists have developed new ways of foreign DNA containment. One way of containing transgenes is via plastid transformation. Plastids are cell organelles that perform numerous biological roles like photosynthesis and synthesis of several biomolecules like fatty acids. In addition to gene containment, plastid transformation provides certain advantages over nuclear transformation. Since plants may contain hundreds of plastids per cell, transgenic protein expression will be more efficient.

Using this technique, a group of scientists from Italy, Ireland and the US, produced transgenic potato lines with altered fatty acid contents. The lines obtained are free from antibiotic marker genes. The results demonstrated the feasibility of engineering the lipid metabolic pathway by plastid transformation. The potato lines obtained also showed increased cold tolerance. Tolerance to low temperatures has been implicated with fatty acid composition in the plant cell membrane.

Subscribers to the journal Transgenic Research can access the full article at http://www.springerlink.com/content/r62t6k72334134g3/fulltext.pdf Non subscribers can read the abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/r62t6k72334134g3/?p=e101c794f236484aab0f1722c58a7b05&pi=0