PlantGENE: Advancing plant transformation through community engagement

Aimee A Malzahn; Heidi Kaeppler; William Gordon-Kamm; Keunsub Lee; Nigel Taylor; Veena Veena; Wayne Parrott; Joyce Van Eck

doi:10.1111/tpj.17228

PlantGENE: Advancing plant transformation through community engagement

Plant J. 2025 Feb;121(3):e17228. doi: 10.1111/tpj.17228.

Authors

Aimee A Malzahn¹, Heidi Kaeppler^{2

3}, William Gordon-Kamm⁴, Keunsub Lee⁵, Nigel Taylor⁶, Veena Veena^{6

7}, Wayne Parrott⁸, Joyce Van Eck^{1

9}

Affiliations

¹ Boyce Thompson Institute, Ithaca, New York, USA.
² Department of Plant and Agroecosystems Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
³ Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁴ Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, Iowa, USA.
⁵ Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
⁶ Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁷ Plant Transformation Facility, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁸ Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
⁹ Plant Breeding & Genetics Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Abstract

Plant transformation is an important part of plant research and crop improvement. Transformation methods remain complex, labor intensive, and inefficient. PlantGENE is a community of scientists from academia, industry, non-profit research institutes, and government organizations working to improve plant transformation. PlantGENE hosts virtual training, interactive webinars, and a website with career opportunities, directories, and more. The plant science community has shown great interest and support for PlantGENE.

Keywords: CRISPR; bioengineering; career development; community; education; plant science; plant transformation; research coordination network.

MeSH terms

Crops, Agricultural / genetics
Plants* / genetics
Plants, Genetically Modified* / genetics
Transformation, Genetic*

Grants and funding

IOS-2210962/National Science Foundation