About Book

Farmers have always modified plants and animals to improve growth rates and yields, create varieties resistant to pests and diseases, and infuse special nutritional or handling characteristics. Such modifications have been achieved by crossbreeding plants and animals with desirable traits, through hybridizations, and other methods. The advances in transgenic techniques, genome editing systems, and functional genomics tools for identification and utility of signalling molecules for improvement in plant drought and saline tolerance as well as for directly manipulating key C and N transporters to improve crop yields and nutritional quality are reviewed. The use of plant insecticidal lectins and secreted peptides with antimicrobial activities as biotechnological tools for pest and pathogens control and crop protection in order to increase crop yields by minimizing quantity and quality losses is also described Plants have been successfully used to produce recombinant cytokines, vaccines, antibodies, and other protein. This book encompasses current progress in CBF transcription factors, use of herbicides, phytoremediation, foreign genes, risks and legislation. It also provides insight into the mycorrhizal symbiosis in nutrient uptake, marker-free transgenic plants, biotic stress perspective, agrobacterium tumefaciens and transcriptomic studies. From theories to research to practical applications, case studies related to all contemporary topics of relevance to this field have been included in this book. It is a vital tool for all researching and studying this field. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by it. Through this book, we attempt to further enlighten the readers about the new concepts in this field.

Preface ..................................................................................................................... v

1. Transcriptomic Studies in Non-Model Plants: Case of Pisum sativum L.

and Medicago lupulina L. ................................................................................... 1

Abstract ........................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 2

2. Transcriptome assembly studies ................................................................ 6

3. Differential gene expression (DGE) .............................................................. 9

4. Transcript-based markers and their usage ............................................. 12

5. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 14

2. New Approaches to Agrobacterium tumefaciens- Mediated Gene Transfer

to Plants ................................................................................................................ 22

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 22

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 23

2. Molecular mechanism of A. tumefaciens-mediated DNA transfer ...... 23

3. Structure and function of Ti plasmid ....................................................... 25

4. Adoption of plant molecular biology ....................................................... 27

5. Agrobacterium-mediated plant transfor-mation protocol

development ................................................................................................. 28

6. New methods for high-transformation frequency via

A. tumefaciens .............................................................................................. 31

7. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 42

3. The Transcriptional Modulation of Inositols and Raffinose Family ............

Oligosaccharides Pathways in PLANTS—

An (A) Biotic Stress Perspective ........................................................................ 49

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 49

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 50

2. The use of Ins and phosphorylated Ins-derivatives in plant cells under

stress .............................................................................................................. 52

3. Methylated Ins-derivatives in plant cell and the biotechnological use to

increase stress tolerance ............................................................................. 58

4. Oxygenated Ins-derivatives in plant cell and the plant strategy to tackle

stress .............................................................................................................. 59

5. Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides (RFOs) and plant strategy to address

stresses .......................................................................................................... 60

6. Ins and its derivatives in humans: Anti-nutrients versus disease

prevention .................................................................................................... 63

7. Concluding remarks and perspectives .................................................... 64

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 64

4. Strategies for Generating Marker-Free Transgenic Plants ......................... 71

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 71

2. Strategies to obtain marker free transgenic plants ................................ 74

3. Marker free transgenic plants with agronomically useful genes ........ 91

5. The Role of the Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Nutrient Uptake of Plants and

the Regulatory Mechanisms Underlying These Transport Processes ... 108

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 108

2. Structural diversity of mycorrhizal interactions ................................ 109

3. Discussion ................................................................................................... 119

4. Mycorrhizal interactions and phosphate nutrition of plants ........... 121

5. Mycorrhizal interactions and nitrogen nutrition ................................ 124

6. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 130

Acknowledgement ..................................................................................... 132

6. Transgenic Plants – Advantages Regarding Their Cultivation, Potentially .

Risks and Legislation Regarding GMO’s .................................................... 147

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 147

2. Obtaining of the genetic modified plants (transgenic plants) ............ 148

3. New properties of the transgenic plants ............................................... 150

4. Advantages of transgenic plants presented by their producers and

supporters .................................................................................................. 152

5. Risks related to the cultivation of the transgenic plants .................... 153

6. Cultivation of the genetic modified plants worldwide ....................... 154

7. Legislation regarding the transgenic plants ......................................... 162

8. Genetical modified flowers on the market ............................................ 165

9. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 167

7. Methods to Transfer Foreign Genes to Plants ............................................. 171

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 171

2. Plant transformation methods ................................................................ 171

3. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 186

4. Acknowledgment ...................................................................................... 186

8. Phytoremediation of Bis-Phenol A via Secretory Fungal

Peroxidases Produced by Transgenic Plants ............................................... 192

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 192

2. LiP-expressing transgenic tobacco ......................................................... 193

3. Lac-expressing transgenic tobacco ......................................................... 195

4. MnP-expressing transgenic hybrid aspen............................................. 199

5. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 202

6. Acknowledgement ..................................................................................... 202

9. The Use of Herbicides in Biotech Oilseed Rape Cultivation and in

Generation of Transgenic Homozygous Plants of Winter Oilseed Rape

(Brassica napus L.) ............................................................................................ 207

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 207

2. Gene transfer in improvement of oilseed rape ..................................... 208

3. Herbicides in GM canola agriculture ..................................................... 211

4. Transgenic homozygous herbicide-resistant winter oilseed rape .... 213

5. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 218

10. The Evolutionary History of CBF Transcription Factors:

Gene Duplication of CCAAT – Binding Factors NF-Y in Plants .............. 222

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 222

2. The CCAAT cis-element promoter .......................................................... 222

3. The CBF/NF-Y transcription factor ........................................................ 224

4. Gene duplication and evolution .............................................................. 228

5. Gene duplication of NF-Y in plants ........................................................ 232

6. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 242

7. Acknowledgement ..................................................................................... 243

Citation ................................................................................................................ 255

Index .................................................................................................................... 257

About Author

Edgar Potter received his Ph.D. Degree in Biotechnology from National Public University, Kyiv, where he is working as a Research Fellow. He has conducted several works on genetically modified organisms. He has contributed various research paper, articles and journals on plant breeding, soilless culture, crop plant, and transgenic plants. His research interests are molecular biology, molecular aspects of biotechnology, synthetic biology and agricultural applications in relevant approaches.