EXPRESSION OF A BT GENE IN CABBAGE CHLOROPLASTS

Genetic modification of plants via chloroplast transformation has recently become an established technology for crop improvement. Introduction of foreign genes in the cytoplasm offers several advantages over nuclear transformation. Proteins from plastid transgenes are expressed at very high levels, as there are multiple copies of the chloroplast genome in a plant cell. Likewise, since chloroplast genes are maternally inherited, plastid transformation offers a way of containing transgenes.

A group of scientists from Taiwan has successfully transferred the Cry1Ab gene into the cabbage chloroplast genome. Expression of the Bt protein was detected in the range of 5 to 11 percent of the total soluble protein in leaves of the transgenic lines. The transformed lines exhibited increased resistance to diamond back moth larvae. The abstract of the paper published by the journal Theoretical and Applied Genetics is available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0348345477pm2x1/?p=8f62d975fb1240bba1b693b279973b04π=0