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Which one of the following is commonly used in transfer of foreign DNA into crop plants?
A
$Penicillium\ expansum$
B
$Trichoderma\ harzianum$
C
$Meloidogyne\ incognita$
D
$Agrobacterium\ tumefaciens$
Detailed Solution
$Agrobacterium\ tumefaciens$ is a pathogen of several dicot plants; it naturally delivers a piece of DNA, known as T-DNA, into the plant cell, transforming normal cells into a tumour (crown gall).
Its tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid has been modified into a cloning vector that is no longer pathogenic but can still use this mechanism to deliver genes of interest into a variety of plants.
It is therefore described as a natural genetic engineer of plants.
$Penicillium$ and $Trichoderma$ are fungi, and $Meloidogyne\ incognita$ is a root-knot nematode; none of them is a gene-transfer agent.
Hence $Agrobacterium\ tumefaciens$ is commonly used.
Its tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid has been modified into a cloning vector that is no longer pathogenic but can still use this mechanism to deliver genes of interest into a variety of plants.
It is therefore described as a natural genetic engineer of plants.
$Penicillium$ and $Trichoderma$ are fungi, and $Meloidogyne\ incognita$ is a root-knot nematode; none of them is a gene-transfer agent.
Hence $Agrobacterium\ tumefaciens$ is commonly used.