title: Engineering plastid genomes: methods, tools, and applications in basic research and biotechnology.
abstract: The small bacterial-type genome of the plastid (chloroplast) can be engineered by genetic transformation, generating cells and plants with transgenic plastid genomes, also referred to as transplastomic plants. The transformation process relies on homologous recombination, thereby facilitating the site-specific alteration of endogenous plastid genes as well as the precisely targeted insertion of foreign genes into the plastid DNA. The technology has been used extensively to analyze chloroplast gene functions and study plastid gene expression at all levels in vivo. Over the years, a large toolbox has been assembled that is now nearly comparable to the techniques available for plant nuclear transformation and that has enabled new applications of transplastomic technology in basic and applied research. This review describes the state of the art in engineering the plastid genomes of algae and land plants (Embryophyta). It provides an overview of the existing tools for plastid genome engineering, discusses current technological limitations, and highlights selected applications that demonstrate the immense potential of chloroplast transformation in several key areas of plant biotechnology.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; email: rbock@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bock
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics*; D018742:DNA, Chloroplast; D061125:Genes, Chloroplast; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054628:Genome, Chloroplast; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D018742:DNA, Chloroplast
keywords: chloroplast transformation; experimental evolution; horizontal gene transfer; metabolic engineering; molecular farming; plastid transformation; reverse genetics