A recent discovery could lead to easier genetic modification of plant varieties considered recalcitrant to standard methods, including varieties of economically important crops.
A Purdue University research team identified a gene that influences susceptibility to infection by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a bacterium that is used as a tool to insert genes into plants to produce traits such as resistance to pests, diseases or harsh environmental conditions or to improve the nutrition or shelf life of a crop.
Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation is widely used in the agricultural biotechnology industry, but it doesn’t work well for many varieties and species of plants, said Stanton Gelvin, Purdue’s Edwin Umbarger Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences who led the research.
Read the full original article: Gene identified by Purdue scientists may ease the genetic modification of plants
