Current progress and challenges in crop genetic transformation

Plant transformation remains the most sought-after technology for functional genomics and crop genetic improvement, especially for introducing specific new traits and to modify or recombine already existing traits. Along with many other agricultural technologies, the global production of genetically engineered crops has steadily grown since they were first introduced 25 years ago. Since the first transfer of DNA into plant cells using Agrobacterium tumefaciens, different transformation methods have enabled rapid advances in molecular breeding approaches to bring crop varieties with novel traits to the market that would be difficult or not possible to achieve with conventional breeding methods. Today, transformation to produce genetically engineered crops is the fastest and most widely adopted technology in agriculture. The rapidly increasing number of sequenced plant genomes and information from functional genomics data to understand gene function, together with novel gene cloning and tissue culture methods, is further accelerating crop improvement and trait development. These advances are welcome and needed to make crops more resilient to climate change and to secure their yield for feeding the increasing human population. Despite the success, transformation remains a bottleneck because many plant species and crop genotypes are recalcitrant to established tissue culture and regeneration conditions, or they show poor transformability. Improvements are possible using morphogenetic transcriptional regulators, but their broader applicability remains to be tested. Advances in genome editing techniques and direct, non-tissue culture-based transformation methods offer alternative approaches to enhance varietal development in other recalcitrant crops. Here, we review recent developments in plant transformation and regeneration, and discuss opportunities for new breeding technologies in agriculture.

Error-prone PCR mutation of Ls-EPSPS gene from Liriope spicata conferring to its enhanced glyphosate-resistance

Liriope spicata (Thunb.) Lour has a unique LsEPSPS structure contributing to the highest-ever-recognized natural glyphosate tolerance. The transformed LsEPSPS confers increased glyphosate resistance to E. coli and A. thaliana. However, the increased glyphosate-resistance level is not high enough to be of commercial value. Therefore, LsEPSPS was subjected to error-prone PCR to screen mutant EPSPS genes capable of endowing higher resistance levels. A mutant designated as ELs-EPSPS having five mutated amino acids (37Val, 67Asn, 277Ser, 351Gly and 422Gly) was selected for its ability to confer improved resistance to glyphosate. Expression of ELs-EPSPS in recombinant E. coli BL21 (DE3) strains enhanced resistance to glyphosate in comparison to both the LsEPSPS-transformed and -untransformed controls. Furthermore, transgenic ELs-EPSPS A. thaliana was about 5.4 fold and 2-fold resistance to glyphosate compared with the wild-type and the Ls-EPSPS-transgenic plants, respectively. Therefore, the mutated ELs-EPSPS gene has potential value for has potential for the development of glyphosate-resistant crops.