One of the major goals of the agricultural sector worldwide is to meet the unceasing rise in demand for oil consumption. Studies have shown that Wrinkled1 gene (WRI1) act as a master regulator for plant oil biosynthesis and alteration in its expression may result in the improvement of oil content in crops. In this study, we demonstrated that WRI1 could be effectively expressed through the use of Particle Inflow Gun (PIG) in Zea mays inbreds. Maize inbreds (CML 161 and Pi 23) were identified based on highest percent embryogenic calli formation and used in PIG optimization. While An ortholog of Zea mays Wrinkled1 (WRI1) gene derived from coconut (CnWRI1) was engineered into a plant expression vector. After which it was co-transformed with another vector containing a reporter gene (mGFP5 or DsRed2) into 15-16 DAP CML 161 immature zygotic embryos. Success of transformation was determined using fluorescence microscopy while wrinkled 1 expression was monitored using qRT-PCR. Embryos transformed with the gene of interest showed 12-981 fold increase in wrinkled 1 expression compared to the negative control, 15 days post bombardment. Results from this experiment will serve as basis for further assessment of CnWRI1 as a promising target to increase oil content in high value crops, such as coconut.
