Multigene engineering: dawn of an exciting new era in biotechnology.
Development of a rice variety enriched in provitamin A, the accumulation of polyhydroxybutyrate polyester in Arabidopsis nuclear transgenic plants (with enzymes targeted to chloroplasts in both), and the expression of bacterial operons via the chloroplast genome are recent landmark achievements in multigene engineering. Hyper-expression of transgenes has resulted in the formation of insecticidal protein crystals or inclusion bodies of pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic chloroplasts, achieving the highest level of transgene expression ever reported in transgenic plants. These achievements illustrate the potential of multigene engineering to realize benefits of the post-genomic revolution.
Daniell
Henry
H
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, University of Central Florida, 12722 Research Parkway, Orlando, Florida 32826-3227, USA. daniell@mail.ucf.edu
Dhingra
Amit
A
D001702:Biopharmaceutics / Q000379:methods; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000378:metabolism
D019207:beta Carotene