Transgenic crops

In order to make a transgenic plant one can use direct gene transfer, which is very inefficient,
or Argobacterium-mediated transfer. Answer the following questions about Agrobacterium-
mediated transfer.

1. What is A. tumefaciens and what special feature does it have that has allowed it to
become useful for genetic engineering?

2. Figure 1 shows a labelled diagram of the Ti plasmid found in A. tumifaciens.

Discuss the role of each of the following components of the Ti plasmid :

i. Opine catabolism

ii. T-DNA region

iii. Virulence region

iv. Origin of replication .

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3. Describe the steps involved in making a herbicide resistant transgenic plant with
Agrobacterium using the T-DNA region of the Ti plasmid.

4. Electroporation is also a method of direct gene transfer. It too is only effective on animal
cells or plant protoplasts (i.e. cells without walls). How does this process work and what
are its drawbacks?

5. Particle bombardment has advantages over the previous two methods of direct gene
transfer. What is the most important of these? How does this process work?