Useful New Tools for Improved Crop Biotechnology

Biotechnology is an effective and important method of improving both quality and agronomic traits in crop plants. We are developing novel molecular tools for genetic engineering, with a focus on cereal grain crops. Transgene expression control elements (i.e. promoters) are crucial components for plant genetic engineering. A suite of monocot promoters that confer distinct patterns of organ-specific or stress-responsive expression in transgenic plants is being created. Candidate genes with distinct potentially useful patterns of expression were identified and the corresponding upstream promoter sequences were fused to a reporter gene and transformed into rice, wheat, Brachypodium distachyon and/or Arabidopsis plants. The characterization of root- pollen- and green tissue-specific promoters will be presented. We are also developing the capability of genetically engineering rice using only rice-derived sequences. Research utilizing this novel strategy to generate intragenic rice plants that carry introduced traits comprised of only native sequences will be presented. These new biotech tools will enable spatially-defined transgene expression in cereal crops and can potentially facilitate the development of novel biotech rice.