Morphogenic Regulators Baby boom and Wuschel Improve Monocot Transformation[OPEN]

By K. Lowe, E. Wu, Ning Wang, G. Hoerster, Craig Hastings, M. Cho, C. Scelonge, B. Lenderts, M. Chamberlin, Josh Cushatt and 23 more. The Plant Cell, 2016

768 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Using the maize Bbm and Wus2 genes enhances transformation efficiency in maize and other monocots, broadens the genotype range, and permits transformation of mature seed-derived embryos and leaf segments. While transformation of the major monocot crops is currently possible, the process typically remains confined to one or two genotypes per species, often with poor agronomics, and efficiencies that place these methods beyond the reach of most academic laboratories. Here, we report a transformation approach involving overexpression of the maize (Zea mays) Baby boom (Bbm) and maize Wuschel2 (Wus2) genes, which produced high transformation frequencies in numerous previously nontransformable maize inbred lines. For example, the Pioneer inbred PHH5G is recalcitrant to biolistic and Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. However, when Bbm and Wus2 were expressed, transgenic calli were recovered from over 40% of the starting explants, with most producing healthy, fertile plants. Another limitation for many monocots is the intensive labor and greenhouse space required to supply immature embryos for transformation. This problem could be alleviated using alternative target tissues that could be supplied consistently with automated preparation. As a major step toward this objective, we transformed Bbm and Wus2 directly into either embryo slices from mature seed or leaf segments from seedlings in a variety of Pioneer inbred lines, routinely recovering healthy, fertile T0 plants. Finally, we demonstrated that the maize Bbm and Wus2 genes stimulate transformation in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) immature embryos, sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) callus, and indica rice (Oryza sativa ssp indica) callus.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/deb6ae53c04679a1d605cd97dd82eae14282f896

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Citations in the corpus

Genome editing in maize directed by CRISPR–Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes (2016, positive): “In these experiments, DNA vectors encoding ‘helper genes’—cell division promoting transcription factors (maize ovule developmental protein 2 ( ODP2 ) and maize Wuschel ( WUS ) 21 ), and selectable and visible marker genes ( MOPAT-DSRED fusion) were co-bombarded with the RNPs.”
Engineering Quantitative Trait Variation for Crop Improvement by Genome Editing. (2017, background): “With the remarkable pace that genomeediting andplant transformation technologies are advancing (Barrangou and Doudna, 2016; Cermak et al., 2017; Lowe et al., 2016), expansive libraries of regulatory alleles could soon be created in both plants and animals (Van Eenennaam, 2017).”
CRISPR/Cas Genome Editing and Precision Plant Breeding in Agriculture. (2019, background): “In addition, fine-tuning the expression of developmental genes such as Baby boom andWuschel2 has dramatically increased the transformation efficiency of certain monocot crops, increased the range of elite genotypes that can be transformed, and substantially reduced the time required for plant regene”
Genetic Regulation of Shoot Architecture. (2018, background): “Furthermore, overexpression of the maize genes BABY BOOM and WUS2 increases the transformation frequencies in maize and other crops including sorghum, sugarcane, and indica rice (95), suggesting the transformation efficiency in recalcitrant crop species may be improved through overexpressing more su”