Standardization of Mannose Based Positive Selection in indica Rice Variety Swarna

Abstract

Successful transgenics require stringent production of large number of successful transgenic events where there is no solution from gene pools of donar varieties. However transgenic technology is a sequential, cumbersome and expensive process. Moreover, it is time consuming, one has to wait for the inheritance of successful transgene into the next generation. Selectable marker genes will play a pivotal role in transient gene confirmation. In the context where the application of herbicide/antibiotic genes as selectable markers is limited; Sugar based selection involving phospho mannose isomerase gene will be helpful in screening of the transformed events. Mannose based selection system is evaluated in indica rice and the optimum selection concentration is standardized. The results, prospects and consequences are discussed.