Sorghum Tissue Culture and Transformation

Part 1 Introduction - overview on scope of transgenics and model systems: sorghum story - current status and prospects; genetic engineering of rice - a case study with reference to aspirations of a developing country; information and tools from "arabidopsis" for biotechnology of crop plants. Part 2 Tissue culture and genetic transformation of sorghum: optimizing sorghum transformation technology via somatic embryogenesis; development of sorghum transformation - organogenic regeneration and gene transfer methods; genetic transformation of postrainy season sorghum using particle bombardment; sorghum tissue culture and genetic transformation research at ICRISAT; generation of hygromycin resistant transgenic sorghum plants following microprojectile-mediated transformation of shoot meristem-derived calli; agrobacterium-mediated transformation of grain sorghum. Part 3 Examples of specific applications: biolistic transformation of sorghum with PR-protein genes and the influence of a transgenic chitinase gene of resistance to stalk-rot; production of transgenic sorghum plants with the barley dehydrative stress-related HVAI gene; nutritional quality improvement of sorghum through genetic transformation. Part 4 Transgene expression: enhancing transgene expression levels in sorghum - current status and future goals; isolation of a meristem-specific gene promoter from "sorghum bicolor" (L.) moench. Part 5 Genes for producing new transgenics: targeted approaches for grain mould resistance in sorghum; isolation of putative disease resistance genes from sorghum and other dryland crops. Part 6 Management of transgenics: role of transgenics in pest management in sorghum; prospects of delaying emergence of resistance in insects against insecticidal toxins of "bacillus thuringienses"; resistance management strategies for Bt rice. Part 7 Lab to land - deployment of transgenics in agriculture, especially in the developing countries: a case for integrating traditional breeding and transgenic research methods in sorghum improvement; considerations for adaptation of transgenic crops in developing countries.