Mutation of Shifts the Nutrient Threshold Triggering Multicellular Development.

The ability to perceive and respond to environmental change is essential to all organisms. In response to nutrient depletion, cells of the soil-dwelling δ-proteobacterium undergo collective morphogenesis into multicellular fruiting bodies and transform into stress-resistant spores. This process is strictly regulated by gene networks that incorporate both inter- and intracellular signals.

Genetic Transformation of Recalcitrant Cassava by Embryo Selection and Increased Hormone Levels.

Genetic engineering is considered to be an important tool for the improvement of cassava. Cassava is a highly heterozygous crop species for which conventional breeding is a lengthy and tedious process. Robust transformation is based on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of friable embryogenic callus (FEC).