Roses (Rosa spp.) are one of the most important flower crops in the world and have an economic value in ornamental, pharmaceutical and cosmetic trade. Significant progress has been made in biotechnology of roses due to its many potential and practical applications in commercial production and in breeding of roses. Rapid multiplication and production of disease-free plants in vitro have played a vital role in propagation of commercial rose cultivars. Genetic transformation is emerged as an alternative promising tool in rose breeding since it eliminates the difficulties associated with sexual hybridization such as lengthy breeding cycles, sterility, polyploidy and high level of heterozygosity. Biotechnology also allows chimeral segregation and can overcome some of the sterility problems through embryo rescue. In vitro seed germination protocols are ways to shorten breeding cycles and could be used to germinate the seeds that are not possible to germinate by other means. In this present review, the progress in regeneration, in vitro propagation, chimeral segregation, callus and protoplast culture, embryo rescue, in vitro germination, and genetic transformation of roses were discussed and the impact of biotechnology on rose breeding was evaluated.Keywords: Rose, tissue culture, genetic transformation, breeding.
Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic phototrophs that, in addition to being excellent model organisms for studying photosynthesis, have tremendous potential for light-driven synthetic biology and biotechnology. These versatile and resilient microorganisms harness the energy of sunlight to oxidise water, generating chemical energy (ATP) and reductant (NADPH) that can be used to drive sustainable synthesis of high-value natural products in genetically modified strains. In this commentary article for the Synthetic Microbiology Caucus we discuss the great progress that has been made in engineering cyanobacterial hosts as microbial cell factories for solar-powered biosynthesis. We focus on some of the main areas where the synthetic biology and metabolic engineering tools in cyanobacteria are not as advanced as those in more widely used heterotrophic chassis, and go on to highlight key improvements that we feel are required to unlock the full power of cyanobacteria for future green biotechnology.
Cyanobacteria hold significant potential as industrial biotechnology (IB) platforms for the production of a wide variety of bio-products ranging from biofuels such as hydrogen, alcohols and isoprenoids, to high-value bioactive and recombinant proteins. Underpinning this technology, are the recent advances in cyanobacterial "omics" research, the development of improved genetic engineering tools for key species, and the emerging field of cyanobacterial synthetic biology. These approaches enabled the development of elaborate metabolic engineering programs aimed at creating designer strains tailored for different IB applications. In this review, we provide an overview of the current status of the fields of cyanobacterial omics and genetic engineering with specific focus on the current molecular tools and technologies that have been developed in the past five years. The paper concludes by giving insights on future commercial applications of cyanobacteria and highlights the challenges that need to be addressed in order to make cyanobacterial industrial biotechnology more feasible in the near future.
Present methods for manipulating ruminal fermentation that involve microbial biotechnology include dietary ionophores, antibiotics, and microbial feed additives. Developments in recombinant DNA technology mean that future methods will have a much wider scope. It has been suggested that genetically engineered ruminal microorganisms will be used in future to improve ruminal fermentation. Several technical objectives must be achieved before that will be possible. First, methods for inserting foreign or modified genes into ruminal microorganisms and ensuring their efficient expression must be developed. Broad host range plasmids and transposons have been used successfully to introduce new DNA into ruminal bacteria, as have shuttle vectors constructed as chimeras of plasmids from ruminal species and Escherichia coli. Although so far only antibiotic resistance markers have been transferred, the prospects for introducing other genes into selected ruminal bacteria are excellent. Second, the expression of the gene product(s) should be known to be nutritionally useful in vivo. A few examples of this type of benefit have been demonstrated, and many more proposed, including polysaccharidases for improving fiber digestion, methods for improving the amino acid composition of ruminal bacteria, and breakdown of plant toxins. Third, the difficulty that has been examined least, yet may prove most difficult to overcome, is that mechanisms have to be found for introducing and maintaining the new strain in the mixed ruminal population. Factors governing the survival of new strains in vivo are ill-understood, and attempts to select in favor of added new organisms have so far been unsuccessful. Because of the last obstacle, it may be advantageous, at least in the short term, to use nonruminal organisms, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, rather than indigenous ruminal species as a vehicle for implementing the benefits of recombinant DNA technology to ruminal fermentation. Yeast is already in widespread use as a feed additive, so no enrichment is necessary; and its genetics are already well known. Alternatively, adding particular enzymes to the diet may achieve some of the objectives described above, with the advantage that the manipulation could be achieved without the release of a recombinant microorganism.
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Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the fifth most important cereal crop globally by harvested area and production. Its drought and heat tolerance allow high yields with minimal input. It is a promising biomass crop for the production of biofuels and bioproducts. In addition, as an annual diploid with a relatively small genome compared with other C4 grasses, and excellent germplasm diversity, sorghum is an excellent research species for other C4 crops such as maize. As a result, an increasing number of researchers are looking to test the transferability of findings from other organisms such as Arabidopsis thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon to sorghum, as well as to engineer new biomass sorghum varieties. Here, we provide an overview of sorghum as a multipurpose feedstock crop which can support the growing bioeconomy, and as a monocot research model system. We review what makes sorghum such a successful crop and identify some key traits for future improvement. We assess recent progress in sorghum transformation and highlight how transformation limitations still restrict its widespread adoption. Finally, we summarize available sorghum genetic, genomic, and bioinformatics resources. This review is intended for researchers new to sorghum research, as well as those wishing to include non-food and forage applications in their research.
Millets are small seeded grasses grown for food, feed or forage and cultivated mostly in less developed countries in poor soil and dry conditions. There are at least 10 genera and 14 species of millets belonging to the Poaceae (Gramineae) family. Tissue culture and plant regeneration occurring through different morphogenic pathways have been reported in great detail in millets. Gene transfer has been attempted using various methods, but so far transgenic plants have been developed only in Pearl millet and Bahiagrass. Not much work has been done on transgenesis in other millets. This is primarily because they have less economic value and are cultivated in poor countries, where research and development are also poor. In the present review we have attempted to provide available information on millet tissue culture and genetic transformation. We have underlined the importance of transgenesis in millet improvement and the role that biotechnology can play in the improvement of these crops grown in a variety of harsh conditions.
Forests are a highly significant component of Canada's landscape and economy. They are subjected to an ever increasing burden through the pressures of competition and the environment. Canada's forests must be restocked with phenotypically superior, genetically improved trees that will mature to provide a competitive product for the future. Traditional improvement and silvicultural practices, assisted by developing biotechnologies, will be needed to fulfil this responsibility. This discussion specifically highlights recent developments in the emerging field of conifer biotechnology and indicates some of the applications to which they may eventually be put.
Chieh-qua (Benincasa hispida Cogn. var. Chieh-qua How) is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. It is a native and important vegetable in China, and widely cultivated throughout south China and Southeast Asia for its immature fruits. The improvement of yield, resistance to disease and stress are the main aims in production and breeding of Chieh-qua. Biotechnology has provided promising approaches for cultivar improvement of this crop. This mini-review introduces the recent researches of in vitro culture and molecular marker application in Chieh-qua, including shoot tip and cotyledon culture, mutant selection in vitro, application of RAPDs for the testing of seed purity and identification of cultivars, development of molecular markers linked to genes associated with gynoecy. The prospects of biotechnology in heredity and breeding in Chieh-qua are discussed.
Colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) have become versatile building blocks in a wide variety of fields. Here, we discuss the state-of-the-art, current hot topics, and future directions based on the following aspects: narrow size-distribution NPs can exhibit protein-like properties; monodispersity of NPs is not always required; assembled NPs can exhibit collective behavior; NPs can be assembled one by one; there is more to be connected with NPs; NPs can be designed to be smart; surface-modified NPs can directly reach the cytosols of living cells.
Genetically-modified, colour-altered varieties of the important cut-flower crop carnation have now been commercially available for nearly ten years. In this review we describe the manipulation of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway that has lead to the development of these varieties and how similar manipulations have been successfully applied to both pot plants and another cut-flower species, the rose. From this experience it is clear that down- and up-regulation of the flavonoid and anthocyanin pathway is both possible and predictable. The major commercial benefit of the application of this technology has so far been the development of novel flower colours through the development of transgenic varieties that produce, uniquely for the target species, anthocyanins derived from delphinidin. These anthocyanins are ubiquitous in nature, and occur in both ornamental plants and common food plants. Through the extensive regulatory approval processes that must occur for the commercialization of genetically modified organisms, we have accumulated considerable experimental and trial data to show the accumulation of delphinidin based anthocyanins in the transgenic plants poses no environmental or health risk.
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Compartmentalized particles enable co-presentation of dissimilar sets of properties, thereby offering a broad design space for multifunctional particles. Electrohydrodynamic co-jetting is a simple, yet versatile fabrication technique that can be used to prepare such multicompartmental particles and fibers. Processing conditions are summarized for co-jetting of aqueous and organic polymer solutions as well as nanoparticle suspensions. Because particles can comprise distinct polymers in different compartments, selective surface modification becomes possible. The latter can result in unidirectional interactions with cells or may pave new routes towards targeted drug delivery.
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