Efficient gene targeting in plants by transient inhibition of non-homologous recombination (LGC.5583)

Efficient methodology for the targeted integration of transgenes in plants is lacking at the moment. This is a significant handicap for plant molecular biology. Even more importantly its application in biotechnology would allow the construction of "safer" transgenic crops which would not suffer from unknown "position" effects due to random integration. Transgenes integrate into the genomes of higher plants (and animals) at random positions, even when they share extensive homology with a genomic locus. Apparently, the efficiency of integration of transgenes by non-homologous recombination is high, making the isolation of targeted integrants tedious and at present not applicable for research of commercial purposes. This project aims to improve the frequency by which targeted events can be obtained, by the transient inhibition of the recombination pathway that promotes random integration of transgenes. The key enzymes mediating this pathway were only recently identified. They now provide tools to develop novel approaches to achieve good frequencies of gene targeting in plants. The results may not only be important for plant research and industry, but may even have impact on animal research and development of methodology for gene therapy in humans.

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