Apprehending the potential of BABY BOOM transcription factors to mitigate cotton regeneration and transformation

Abstract

Abstract Since the advent of transgenic technology, the incorporation of gene(s) encoding traits of economic importance in cotton is being practiced worldwide. However, factors like recalcitrant nature of cotton cultivars, in vitro regeneration via tissue culture (especially via somatic embryogenesis), genotype dependency, long and toilsome protocols impede the pace of development of transgenic cotton. Besides that, types and age of explants, media composition, plant growth regulators and other environmental factors affect in vitro cotton regeneration significantly. The studies of genetic control of in vitro regeneration in plants have elucidated the role of certain transcription factor genes that are induced and expressed during somatic embryogenesis. Among these transcription factors, BABY BOOM (BBM) plays a very important role in signal transduction pathway, leading to cell differentiation and somatic embryos formation. The role of BBM has been established in plant cell proliferation, growth and development even without exogenous growth regulators. This review intends to provide an informative summary of regeneration and transformation problems in cotton and the latest developments in utilization of BBM transcription factors in cotton. We believe that the use of BBM will not only ease cotton genetic improvement but will also accelerate cotton breeding programmes.