BRINJAL FARM

BRINJAL FARM

Mahyco licensed and used the cry1Ac gene obtained from Monsanto and two supporting genes (nptII and aad). The cry1Ac gene is under the transcriptional control of an enhanced cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV35S) promoter,

which ensures the gene is expressed in all the brinjal's tissue throughout its complete life cycle. NptII and aad are selectable marker genes, nptII is used to identify transgenic plants from non-transgenic, and aad is used to identify the transformed bacteria used during the development of the construct. Aad contains a bacterial promoter and is not expressed in the Bt brinjal. The completed construct was inserted into young cotyledons from the brinjal plants using an Agrobacterium-mediated technique. Agrobacterium naturally inserts DNA into plants from its Ti plasmid, and scientists use this to insert genes of interest into various plants. The transformed plants were regenerated and analyzed for the presence of the gene through Southern blotting. The plants' progeny were also analyzed to identify lines segregating in a Mendelian fashion.