Applications of Plant Genetic Engineering

Introduction
A major goal of plant genetic engineering is to improve agronomic ally important crops by
transforming them with foreign genes. Much research has focused on agronomic traits for controlling
insects, viruses, bacterial and fungal plants diseases and weeds. Other modifications include developing
more nutritious food products and synthesizing biodegradable, organic polymers. Genetically engineered
crop plants are beginning to be used for the production of industrially important chemicals and
pharmaceutically active compounds.

The loss of prime farmland may one day require that crops be cultivated in areas that are less
suitable or marginal for agriculture. Crops that can be grown in these regions are being developed. For
example, stress tolerant plants are being engineered that are able to live in colder, drier regions.

Discussion

What are the applications of Genetically Engineered Plants?

Commercially available crops improved through genetic engineering

There has been a consistent increase in the global area planted to transgenic crops from 1996 to 2011.
About 160 million hectares was planted in 2011 to transgenic crops with high market value, such as
herbicide tolerant soybean, maize, cotton, and canola; insect resistant maize, cotton, potato, and rice; and
virus resistant squash and papaya. With genetic engineering, more than one trait can be incorporated or
stacked into a plant. Transgenic crops with combined traits are also available commercially. These
include herbicide tolerant and insect resistant maize and cotton.

New and future initiatives in crop genetic engineering

To date, commercial GM crops have delivered benefits in crop production, but there are also a number of
products in the pipeline which will make more direct contributions to food quality, environmental
benefits, pharmaceutical production, and non-food crops. Examples of these products include: rice with
higher levels of iron and b-carotene (an important micronutrient which is converted to vitamin A in the
body); long life banana that ripens faster on the tree and can therefore be harvested earlier; maize with
improved feed value; tomatoes with high levels of flavones, which are powerful antioxidants; drought
tolerant maize; maize with improved phosphorus availability; arsenic-tolerant plants; edible vaccines
from fruit and vegetables; and low lignin trees for paper making.

Genetically Engineered Traits: The Big Six

1. Herbicide Resistance

Herbicides are used annually in agricultural areas to decrease the impact of weeds on crops. Often
the chemical persists in fields when the crops are germinating and can kill them. By modifying crop
plants so they are resistance to a broad expectrrum herbicide, a single chemical is effective without
killing the crop plants. Another way that plants may be resistant is to produce new protein that
inactivates the herbicide.
2. Insect Resistance

Bio pesticides, pesticides produced by living organisms, have a bright beginning in agriculture. In
the 1990’s many experiments were conducted to explore the use of plant protease inhibitors as bio
pesticides. Insect pest attack grains, wheat, beans and pea and evidence showed that protease
inhibitors might be able to protect plant products. Other experiments have shown that a cowpea
protects oil palms against bagworm larvae.\

3. Virus Resistance

Many crops are lost to viral diseases, resulting in losses of millions of dollars each year.
Controlling viral diseases is very difficult. It cause symptoms such as yellowing and mottling of
leaves, deformed fruits and stunted growth. Genetically engineered virus resistant plants harbor a
viral coat protein product is overproduced. This prevents the virus from producing. This type of
resistant is called coat protein-mediated viral resistant.

4. Altered Oil content

Oils from plants serve any functions, from used food additives such as cooking oil, addition to
processed foods and many more. Plants produce different types of oils, each type can be used for
a specific industrial purposes. Several varieties of soybean and canola have been genetically
engineered to produce oils with better cooking and nutritional properties. The fatty acid type is
changed by genetically modifying enzyme in the fatty acid synthesis.

5. Delayed Fruit Ripening

The only genetically engineered tomatoes that have been marketed are those with delayed
ripening genes. This desirable trait allows ore tie to pass between removals from vine to market,
and thus, increase the shelf life of tomato. Some genetically tomatoes produce a reduced amount
of ethylene (plant growth hormone that induce ripening) so that these tomatoes can fully develop
more flavor on the vine before shipment to the market, example of this is Endless Summer by
DNA Plant Technology.

6. Pollen Control
Hybrid crops are primarily used in agriculture today because the often have improved traits over
the parent plants. A hybrid is made by crossing two distantly related varieties of the sae crop
plant. Pollen from banrstar plant variety is used to fertilize the male barrnstar plant variety, a
hybrid plant is produced that is fertile because the barnstar and barnase will mix. Bacillus
amyloliquefaciens produces barnase to degrade the RNA of a foreign invader while barnstar is
produced o inactivate barnase by binding to it.