Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; email:
Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2015;66:211-41. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-050213-040212. Epub 2014 Dec 1.
The small bacterial-type genome of the plastid (chloroplast) can be engineered by genetic transformation, generating cells and plants with transgenic plastid genomes, also referred to as transplastomic plants. The transformation process relies on homologous recombination, thereby facilitating the site-specific alteration of endogenous plastid genes as well as the precisely targeted insertion of foreign genes into the plastid DNA. The technology has been used extensively to analyze chloroplast gene functions and study plastid gene expression at all levels in vivo. Over the years, a large toolbox has been assembled that is now nearly comparable to the techniques available for plant nuclear transformation and that has enabled new applications of transplastomic technology in basic and applied research. This review describes the state of the art in engineering the plastid genomes of algae and land plants (Embryophyta). It provides an overview of the existing tools for plastid genome engineering, discusses current technological limitations, and highlights selected applications that demonstrate the immense potential of chloroplast transformation in several key areas of plant biotechnology.
质体（叶绿体）的小型细菌型基因组可以通过遗传转化进行工程改造，从而产生具有转基因质体基因组的细胞和植物，也称为转质体植物。转化过程依赖于同源重组，从而能够对内源性质体基因进行特异性改变，以及将外源基因精确靶向插入质体 DNA。该技术已被广泛用于分析叶绿体基因功能，并在体内研究质体基因表达的各个层次。多年来，已经组装了一个大型工具包，现在几乎可以与用于植物核转化的技术相媲美，并使转质体技术在基础和应用研究中的新应用成为可能。本文综述了藻类和陆地植物（胚胎植物）质体基因组工程的最新进展。它概述了现有的质体基因组工程工具，讨论了当前的技术限制，并重点介绍了一些应用实例，这些实例展示了叶绿体转化在植物生物技术的几个关键领域中的巨大潜力。
