title: Vast potential for using the piggyBac transposon to engineer transgenic plants at specific genomic locations.
abstract: The acceptance of bioengineered plants by some nations is hampered by a number of factors, including the random insertion of a transgene into the host genome. Emerging technologies, such as site-specific nucleases, are enabling plant scientists to promote recombination or mutations at specific plant loci. Off target activity of these nucleases may limit widespread use. Insertion of transgenes by transposases engineered with a specific DNA binding domain has been accomplished in a number of organisms, but not in plants. The piggyBac transposon system, originally isolated from an insect, has been utilized to transform a variety of organisms. The piggyBac transposase is amendable to structural modifications, and was able to insert a transgene at a specific human locus through fusion of a DNA binding domain to its N-terminus. Recent developments demonstrating the activity of piggyBac transposase in plants is an important first step toward the potential use of engineered versions of piggyBac transposase for site-specific transgene insertion in plants.
authors.affiliation: a Crop Bioprotection Research, USDA ARS , Peoria , Illinois.
authors.forename: Eric T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: b Institute for Biogenesis Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa , Honolulu , Hawaii.
authors.forename: Jesse B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.affiliation: b Institute for Biogenesis Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa , Honolulu , Hawaii.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moisyadi
mesh_terms: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D056426:Genetic Loci; D016678:Genome; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D059765:Homologous Recombination; D006801:Humans; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000379:methods*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D019076:Transgenes; D019895:Transposases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D019895:Transposases
keywords: chimeric transposase; insect transposon; plants; site-specific insertion; transformation