Transgenic oil palm: production and projection

Oil palm is an important economic crop for Malaysia. Genetic engineering co uld be applied to produce transgenic oil palms with high value-added fatty acids and novel products to ensure the sustainability of the palm oil indus try. Establishment of a reliable transformation and regeneration system is essential for genetic engineering. Biolistic was initially chosen as the me thod for oil palm transformation as it has been the most successful method for monocotyledons to date. Optimization of physical and biological paramet ers, including testing of promoters and selective agents, was carried out a s a prerequisite for stable transformation. This has resulted in the succes sful transfer of reporter genes into oil palm and the regeneration of trans genic oil palm, thus making it possible to improve the oil palm through gen etic engineering. Besides application of the Biolistics method, studies on transformation mediated by Agrobacterium and utilization of the green fluor escent protein gene as a selectable marker gene have been initiated. Upon t he development of a reliable transformation system, a number of useful targ ets are being projected for oil palm improvement. Among these targets are h igh-oleate and high-stearate oils, and the production of industrial feedsto ck such as biodegradable plastics. The efforts in oil palm genetic engineer ing are thus not targeted as commodity palm oil. Due to the long life cycle of the palm and the time taken to regenerate plants in tissue culture, it is envisaged that commercial planting of transgenic palms will not occur an y earlier than the year 2020.