Polyamines and Morphogenesis in Monocots: Experimental Systems and Mechanisms of Action

Abstract

Much of the enthusiasm and speculation regarding the potential use of biotechnology in crop improvement is based on demonstrations obtained in dicot plant systems, particularly tobacco. Thus, it is often assumed that what has been possible to achieve with model plants such as, for example, transformation of protoplasts by foreign DNA and subsequent regeneration of genetically altered plants, can also be accomplished with important crops like cereals. Unfortunately, severe difficulties frequently arise in the application of this technology to most of the important monocot plants. Two of the basic requirements for the application of these techniques in cereals are to obtain mesophyll protoplast systems capable of continuous division and proliferation in in vitro culture, and the regeneration of plants from calluses derived from those single protoplast cultures.