Tatiana V Matveeva
St. Petersburg State University, Russia
Title: Biodiversity of naturally transgenic Linaria plants
Biography
Biography: Tatiana V Matveeva
Abstract
Most genetic engineering of plants uses Agrobacterium mediated transformation to introduce novel gene content. In nature,
insertion of T-DNA in the plant genome and its subsequent transfer via sexual reproduction has been shown in several
species in the genera Nicotiana, Ipomea and Linaria. Th ey are called naturally transgenic plant. A sequence homologous to the
T-DNA of the Ri plasmid of Agrobacterium rhizogenes was found in the genome of untransformed Nicotiana glauca about 30
years ago and was named “cellular T-DNA” (cT-DNA). A similar cT-DNA has also been found in other species of the genus
Nicotiana. In our study T-DNA-like sequences has been detected and characterized in diff erent Linaria species, belonging to
two sections Linaria and Speciosa. In all characterized Linaria species the cT-DNA is present in two copies and organized as
a tandem imperfect direct repeat and contained the same T-DNA oncogenes and the mis gene, however there are diff erent
mutations inside the T-DNA in the investigated forms. Linaria species are medicinal transgenic plants that people used for
ages. Characterization of structure of T-DNA in close species of naturally transgenic plants is important, since they could be
good model system for study of delayed environmental risks of GMO.