Arabidopsis thaliana The Model Plant for Genetic Engineering By Mike Douglas and Joanna Naymark

Why Is Arabidopsis a Model Plant?  Relative genetic simplicity  Convenience and abundance  Susceptibility to T-DNA insertions  Basic similarities to other crops Other Model Organisms

Arabidopsis Genome  Small genome composed of approximately 25,700 genes  5 chromosomes  Genome mapping project completed due to internationally coordinated program

Convenience  Easy to grow  Small plant size means tens of thousands can be grown at a time  6-8 weeks from seeds to seeds  Massive seed production (potential up to 10,000 seeds per plant)  Ability of Arabidopsis thaliana to self-fertilize

Making Knockout Plants  Easily susceptible to Agrobacterium which contain Ti plasmids, the vehicles for T-DNA insertion  Easy to establish many knockout lines in short amount of time

Significance of Arabidopsis in Plant Genetics  Basic life processes similar to those of more complex crop plants such as corn, soybean, and wheat  It can be assumed that the basic set of genes that control these processes are the same, making findings applicable to other species

Ultimate goals  Discoveries applicable in genetic engineering of crop varieties with disease and insect resistance, and other enhanced production qualities *Startling fact: In the next 50 years, we will need to produce more food than in the whole of human history and do it on the same or less amount of arable land.

Summary  Arabidopsis is a useful model plant  Simple genome  Easy maintenance and space-efficient  Applicable similarities with other plants  Potential to help increase food production quantity and quality to feed a growing world population