Double fertilisation in vitro and transgene technology

Abstract

The procedure of in vitro fertilisation with single isolated maize gametes is the well characterised model system to study fertilisation and early zygotic embryogenesis of higher plants. It allows individual development of zygotes and primary endosperm cells. Both in vitro produced zygotes and primary endosperm cells are able to develop into embryos, fertile plants and endosperm in culture. These zygotes and primary endosperm cells are able to self-organise independently from maternal tissue. Many developmental steps of both the in vitro-produced embryo and endosperm are comparable to the situation in planta. Application of molecular techniques to the in vitro fertilisation system can dissect specific expression patterns of known genes, for example, cell cycle regulators and to isolate unknown genes and their products. Expression of foreign genes is possible in gametes and zygotes. This allows to unravel the roles of genes during fertilisation and early development. The ability of gametes and zygotes to express transgenes enable us to follow the expression of GFP based reporter genes for the visualisation of subcellular components in these living cells. © 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. All rights reserved.