Justs, Adriana

Advancements in biotechnology have allowed us to
study genetics and plant physiology by engineering
transgenic plants. For our research we transformed
Micro-Tom, a tomato variety developed for use in
genetic research, using Agrobacterium mediated
transformation. Within a time span of fourteen weeks,
we inserted two distinct plasmid constructs (pCAMBIA2301
and E1492). Plants have the unique ability to
regenerate their tissue and we took advantage of this
ability to regenerate the transgenic plants with antibiotic
selection. Approximately one third of the explants
endured the infection process and fourteen of these
survived in the presence of kanamycin. By the end of
the fourteenth week, eleven out of our fourteen plantlets
had fully developed roots but only four survived
to maturity. After verification with PCR and qPCR, we
found that we generated two transgenic plants. Here
we describe all the methods and techniques used to
achieve these compelling results.could be the potential
cause of this neurodegenerative disease, will help
elucidate the role of this amino acid in ALS.