Chapter 27 Particle Bombardment

Abstract

The importance of particle bombardment technology in agricultural biotechnology and its impact on basic studies in plant molecular biology is vividly illustrated by the fact that prior to its development only a few plants, primarily Solanaceous species, could be engineered using conventional gene transfer methods. Microprojectile bombardment employs high-velocity metal particles to deliver biologically active DNA into plant cells. The ability to deliver foreign DNA into regenerable cells, tissues, or organs appears to provide the best method for achieving truly genotype-independent transformation in many agronomic crops, bypassing Agrobacterium host specificity- and tissue culture-related regeneration difficulties. Because of the physical nature of the technique, there is no biological limitation to the actual DNA delivery process; thus, genotype is not a limiting factor. Combining the relative ease of DNA introduction into plant cells with an efficient regeneration protocol avoiding protoplast or suspension culture, particle bombardment appears to be the optimum system for transformation.