Are gene silencing mutants good tools for reliable transgene expression or reliable silencing of endogenous genes in plants?

Abstract

Engineering new traits in plants by genetic transformation basically falls into two classes: i) introduction of sense transgenes that encode RNA and/or proteins adding a new structural or regulatory property to the plant, ii) introduction of antisense transgenes that encode RNA that interferes with the expression of endogenous genes or gene families. Many successful achievements involving transgenic plants expressing new traits have been obtained during the last 15 years. However, unexpected silencing of sense or antisense transgenes or simultaneous silencing of sense transgenes and homologous endogenous genes was also observed in several cases(1–5).