Genetic Transformation of Wheat

Genetic transformation of plants is a technique by which foreign DNA is introduced into plant cells, leading to regeneration of transgenic plants, with new features resulting from integration and expression of the foreign DNA. This technique has become an indispensable tool, both for plant biotechnologists to incorporate agronomically useful genes into crops, and for plant molecular biologists to test a particular structural gene or promoter in plant cells. Plant virologists use this technique to study the relationship between a viral pathogen and its host, and to introduce antiviral genes into plants to combat viral diseases.