Enhancement of Cellulose Content in Eucalyptus tereticornis through Genetic Transformation
M S Reddy, Professor, Thapar University
Paper is always an important
commodity for the society and is produced from wood of selected plant species.
Wood is processed to pulp through kraft pulping by removal of lignin. During
kraft pulping large amount of chemicals are used causing environmental hazards
and higher amount of lignin in wood also reduces the yield of pulp. It has been
estimated that a small decrease in the percentage of lignin (about 5%) or
increase in cellulose content is likely to increase the yield of pulp and also
reduce the cost of pulping, which could significantly benefit the pulp and
paper industry. This could be achieved either through downregulation of
important genes of lignin synthesis or overexpression of key genes of cellulose
biosynthesis in target plants used for production of pulp. For over expression
of cellulose biosynthesis two key genes have been identified namely, sucrose
synthase (provide the substrate i.e. UDP-glucose for cellulose synthesis) and
Korrigan (involved in editing of growing cellulose chains and thus increases
the crystallinity of produced cellulose). Present work focuses on the
upregulation of these two genes in important plants species namely, Populus
deltoides and Eucalyptus tereticornis, which are used as raw material for pulp
and paper industry. An efficient shoot organogenesis and genetic transformation
using Agrobacterium tumefaciens harbouring binary vector pBI121 have been
achieved for both the species. Shoot organogenesis has been achieved using leaf
explants taken from microshoots. Further transformation of E. tereticornis with
korrigan gene has been achieved. Four transgenic lines expressing korrigan gene
have been developed and characterized using various molecular tools. Work is in
progress to transform P. deltoides.
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