plant biotechnology Flashcards
what are the different ways new beneficial traits can be introduced to plants
1) embryo transfer
2) organ culture
3) callus culture
4) cell culture
define totipotency
a differentiated plant cell which retains genetic information required to generate a whole new organism
what is needed for a plant tissue growth medium
1) solid medium = agar
2) a carbon source
3) macronutrients
4) micronutrients
5) vitamins and cofactors
6) hormones such as auxin
what is micropropagation by meristem culture
a method of plant propagation using small pieces of plant tissue taken from a prepared mother plants meristem
what is a plant protoplast
formed when plant cells are treated with cell wall dissolving cellulases which forms plant cells lacking in cell walls
how can protoplast be used in plant biotechnology
protoplasts can be fused together to generate hybrid species with increased vigour as it spreads desirable traits
what is a cell suspension culture
a type of cell culture where single cells are allowed to function and multiply in a then agitated growth medium causing cells to seperate forming a sub culture of cells
give some examples of model plants used in plant molecular biology and genetics
1) arabadopsis
2) rice
what is arabidopsis
a small weedy member of the vrassicaceae with a small genome and is very easy to germinate with short periods between seedlings to fruit (6 weeks)
- it is very fertile and has lots of mutants
how many pairs of chromosome does arabidopsis have
5 pairs
outline some features which make arabidopsis a model plant
1) abundant
2) smaller and simpler genome
3) suseptible to T-DNA insertions
4) low amount of receptive DNA
5) large number if offspring with short generation time
what is a gene gun
DNA placed on precious metals is blasted into plant cells
what bacteria causes crown gall disease
agrobacterium tumefaciens
how does the bacteria responsible for crowns gall disease enter the plant
enters through wounds in roots or stems and stimulates the plant tissues to grow in a disorganised way producing swollen glands
what is a Ti plasmid
a tumour inducing plasmid found in agrobacterium
what are some ways of genetically transforming plants
1) using T DNA
2) use of viruses
3) electroporation
4) microinjection
5) gene guns
what does the vir region, O gene and onc region of the Ti plasmid in agrobacterium tumefaciens allow
vir = region which enables infection
O= gene for opine synthesis
onc= region that specifies plant growth regulators
outline the process of using T-DNA for genetic transformation
1) T-DNA is disarmed and the onc and O genes are removed and replaced with a foreign gene leaving on the vir region which enables infection
2) the recombinant plasmid acts as a vector and is transferred into the bacteria
3) T_DNA integrated into the plant genome forming a transgenic plant
outline how electroporation is used
1) increases permability of the plasma membrane due to the application of an electric field
2) protoplasts within the electric field take up DNA
3) when the electric field is removed usual permability is returned and new DNA remains in protoplast
what can electroporation be used for
1) insertion of proteins into a cell membrane
2) introduction of small molecules
3) introduction of larger molecules
4) cell fusion
5) destruction of the cell membrane
what are ways of directly introducing DNA into plant cells
1) gene gun
2) microinjection
3) virus
what causes mutagenesis
1) chemical mutagen
2) irradation
3) insertional mutagenesis
give some advantages of GM plants in agriculture
1) improved yield
2) imporved nutritional value
3) herbicide resistance
4) reistance to pests
5) better fruit ripening and shelf life
what are some disadvantages of GM crops in agriculture
1) public oposition
2) no long term testing
3) heribcide resistant weeds
how else can plant biotechnology be used
1) pharmaceuticals
2) bioplastics
3) biofuels
4) phytoremidation
what are the symptoms of ebola
fever
headache
sore throat
vomiting
rash
internal and external bleeding
how is ebola spread
direct contact with blood or secretions
contact with contaminated objects
contact with an infected animal
outline Zmapp and its relation to the ebold virus
it is an experimental biopharmeutical drug which uses 3 humanised monoclonal antiboides conataining neutralised antiboides which provide passive immunity by direclty reacting with the virus
where is zmapp manufactured
in the tobacco plant
