Agrobacterium rhizogenes: paving the road to research and breeding for woody plants

Wei Ying; Guangchao Wen; Wenyuan Xu; Haixia Liu; Wona Ding; Luqing Zheng; Yi He; Huwei Yuan; Daoliang Yan; Fuqiang Cui; Jianqin Huang; Bingsong Zheng; Xiaofei Wang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1196561

Agrobacterium rhizogenes: paving the road to research and breeding for woody plants

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Nov 14:14:1196561. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1196561. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wei Ying^#^{1

2}, Guangchao Wen^#^{1

2}, Wenyuan Xu^{1

2}, Haixia Liu^{1

2}, Wona Ding³, Luqing Zheng⁴, Yi He^{1

2}, Huwei Yuan^{1

2}, Daoliang Yan^{1

2}, Fuqiang Cui^{1

2}, Jianqin Huang¹, Bingsong Zheng^{1

2}, Xiaofei Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Forest Aromatic Plants-based Healthcare Functions, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Woody plants play a vital role in global ecosystems and serve as valuable resources for various industries and human needs. While many woody plant genomes have been fully sequenced, gene function research and biotechnological breeding advances have lagged behind. As a result, only a limited number of genes have been elucidated, making it difficult to use newer tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 for biotechnological breeding purposes. The use of Agrobacterium rhizogenes as a transformative tool in plant biotechnology has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly in the research field on woody plants. Over the past three decades, numerous woody plants have been effectively transformed using A. rhizogenes-mediated techniques. Some of these transformed plants have successfully regenerated. Recent research on A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation of woody plants has demonstrated its potential for various applications, including gene function analysis, gene expression profiling, gene interaction studies, and gene regulation analysis. The introduction of the Ri plasmid has resulted in the emergence of several Ri phenotypes, such as compact plant types, which can be exploited for Ri breeding purposes. This review paper presents recent advances in A. rhizogenes-mediated basic research and Ri breeding in woody plants. This study highlights various aspects of A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation, its multiple applications in gene function analysis, and the potential of Ri lines as valuable breeding materials.

Keywords: Ri plasmid; gene function analysis; hairy root; regeneration; transformation.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Key Scientific and Technological Grant of Zhejiang for Breeding New Agricultural Varieties (2021C02066-12), the Opening Project of Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Forest Aromatic Plants-based Healthcare Functions (2022E10008), the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture (KF202007), the General Foundation of Education of Zhejiang (Y202250159 and Y202147311), and the Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (202003N4016).