EAGER: Development of non-tissue culture based maize transformation

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Part 1 Non-technicalCorn is unique in that it is one of the best model organisms for studying fundamental biological questions, and at the same time has significant economic value as a major crop. To maintain competitiveness in agriculture and prepare for future environmental challenges, such as drought or disease outbreaks, new technologies are needed to accelerate basic research in corn. Genetic transformation is an essential tool for fundamental biological studies. It allows for a more complete analysis of gene function, enabling an increase in the knowledge base upon which advances in agriculture are made. It is also a key step in generating biotech traits in crop plants to enhance and provide stability for food production. Despite years of effort, genetic transformation is still remarkably difficult to perform in corn. The current technology for production of transformed corn plants is limited by technical difficulties, high cost, and long turnaround time. Consequently, genetic transformation is a bottleneck that slows basic research and agricultural advancement. This project will develop a new method to deliver genes to immature seed on corn ears, combined with genetic color markers that visibly identify the successfully transformed seed. This will accelerate progress for many aspects of maize research. Part 2 TechnicalUsing knowledge of maize reproductive development, a method is being developed to make transformation of maize accessible to all labs that are able to perform basic maize genetics and molecular biology. Agrobacterium treatment of developing maize ears will be tested for the ability to produce heritable transformation of maize kernels. Two maize inbred varieties that are commonly used for genetic research will be tested as well as a mutant with reproductive abnormalities to identify the most robust and user-friendly method possible. This simple, quick and efficient technique will enable individual labs to produce transgenic plants without the epigenetic abnormalities associated with tissue culture plantlet regeneration while also circumventing the need for highly specialized personnel or out-sourcing of transgenic line production to service facilities, which are limited in capacity. Broadly, this new transformation technique will not only benefit fundamental researches using maize as a model organism, but also contribute greatly to maize production in agriculture.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.