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Kin-Ying To

Academia Sinica

Dr. Kin-Ying To received a Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Botany, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, in 1990. After postdoctoral training at Chang-Gung University (Taoyuan, Taiwan), Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA), and Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan), Dr. To joined the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, in 1999. Currently, he is working as an Associate Research Specialist. Dr. To has published around 30 SCI-indexed research articles and reviews (in many journals including Molecular Breeding, Planta, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Physiologia Plantarum, Microbiology, Plant and Cell Physiology, Plant Science, Plant Journal, Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Botanical Studies, Current Genetics, Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, Plant Cell Reports, Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture, Molecular and General Genetics, Genome, Plant Biology, Plant Molecular Biology, Plants), four book chapters, one edited book, and has also received two patents and several research grants. In addition, he has served as a reviewer for over 25 verified reviews (in journals such as Plants, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Agronomy, Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, Botanical Studies, Forests, Letters in Applied Microbiology, Molecules, Molecular Biology Reports, etc.) on the Publons website, and a lecturer in some courses at the National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica. Since 2008, he has been operating and developing the Plant Transformation Core for herbal, floricultural, and crop plants at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center of Academia Sinica. Research interests of the Dr. To’s lab include plant tissue culture and genetic engineering in valuable medicinal and crop plants, agrobacterium-mediated transformation, chloroplast transformation, molecular breeding, and plant biotechnology.

1books edited

1chapters authored

Latest work with IntechOpen by Kin-Ying To

Due to rapid population growth, climate change, and decreasing natural resources, growing sufficient crops with high productivity, resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and other attractive traits is a major challenge. Conventional breeding methods require time-consuming genetic crosses between different parents for multiple generations. By contrast, plant transformation is defined as the insertion of DNA from any organism into the genome of a plant species, and it is considered to be a powerful tool in plant breeding. This book aims to provide professional state-of-the-art information for basic and applied scientists and plant breeders, focusing on key crop plants. Papers related to the principle and application of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, step-by-step protocols of DNA delivery to the important crop Brassica oleracea and higher-plant chloroplasts, current progress and prospects of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in higher plants, improvement of grapevine through biotechnology, and public concern of biosafety issues regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are all included in this book. It should be useful for students, breeders, and researchers in the field of transgenic crops around the world.

Genetic Transformation in Crops

Genetic Transformation in Crops

Edited by Kin-Ying To

Chapters authored

Construction and Evaluation of Chloroplast Expression Vectors in Higher Plants

By Po-Yen Chen, Yung-Ting Tsai and Kin-Ying To

Plastid transformation has a number of advantages in comparison with nuclear transformation. Currently, only tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is routinely used in plastid transformation. Here we constructed a series of chloroplast expression vectors specific for spinach (pCEV1), tomato (pCEV2 and pCEV3), and N. benthamiana (pCEV4). Selection marker aminoglycoside 3′-adenyltransferase (aadA) conferring spectinomycin resistance was used in pCEV1, pCEV2, and pCEV4, while selection marker neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) was used in pCEV3. The expression cassette in these vectors was integrated in the intergenic spacer between trnI and trnA of plastid genome via homologous recombination. Several transgenes, including a reporter gene encoding GFP:GUS fusion protein and genes from tomato (lycopene b-cyclase, z-carotene desaturase) and bamboo mosaic virus satellite RNA (encoding coat protein CP20), were independently cloned into some of these vectors. Transient GUS expression was detected in spinach leaves bombarded by pCEV1/GFP-GUS. Functional expression of selection markers aadA and nptII was demonstrated for spinach, tomato, and N. benthamiana. Seedling assay from T0 self-pollinated plant of transplastomic N. benthamiana confirmed maternal inheritance of transgenes, and genomic PCR analysis confirmed integration of transgenic expression cassette into the plastid genome of N. benthamiana. Moreover, auxiliary vectors pECaad and pECnpt are also reported.

Part of the book: Genetic Transformation in Crops

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