Lec.

1: Plant Revolution
I.

Biotechnology

to

Genomics:

Evolution

of

the

Biotechnology is life technology the relation ship between biology, technology and application

II. Green revolution gene i. Dwarf genotype: more with less Increase on the harvest index = m (harvest)/total mass of crop Mutant allele of the GAI gene that leads to abnormal response to gibberilic acid (plant growth regulator) and alteration on the signaling pattern of the encoded transcription factor ii. Less biomass and more productivity, so bigger harvest index.

The power of the Phenotype: dwarf phenotype that increased harvest index caused by a single gene a transcription factor that altered signaling by gibberellin, created the green revolution.

III. The Cell and Molecular Revolution i. ii. 1953 - DNA molecular structure 1967 - Restriction endonuclease

iii. 1975 - Recombinant DNA iv. 1958 Regeneration in tissue culture (totipotency) Totipotency is the ability of a single cell to divide and produce all the differentiated cells in an organism, including extraembryonic tissues Plant cells are totipotent. Each plant cell has all of the genetic information to make an entire plant. It has the full compliment of DNA. v. 1982 - Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer

vi. 1983 - Transgenic plants FlavrSavr tomato was the first transgenic crop to be sold to the public

IV. Revolution: massive DNA sequencing V. Bioinformatics is the practice of using computers to manage, store and analyze large amounts of biological data. VI. Systems Biology describes the scale and complexity of the interrelationships between different biological processes i. ii. Understanding everything at the same time Influence of the genes in the system

iii. In-silico organisms VII. Plant Biotechnology: Areas of impact

i. ii.

Plant protection Improve productivity and quality

iii. Plants as production factories for new drugs, chemicals etc. VIII. Summary Points i. Plants are the driving force for food, feed, fiber and biomass production. ii. Limitations of plant breeding: sexual compatibility and availability of diverse phenotypes to improve plants. iii. Phenotypic traits are encoded for by genes. iv. The unity principle: DNA is structurally and chemically the same in all living organisms and genes are the functional product of this unity. v. Because of this unity cross-kingdom movement of genes/phenotypes is possible and made a reality through biotechnologies recombinant DNA, transformation and genomics. vi. A small component of the genome encodes genes. vii. Sexual compatibility is no longer a barrier in plant improvement due to viii. Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer. ix. Totipotency is key to making transgenic plants. x. Genomics integrates biology with engineering and is fueled by DNA sequencing.

xi. Systems biology may permit the defining of a phenotype directly from the DNA sequence by understanding gene function in the context of an organism/population and in response to the environment