Effect of Transformation by the Agrobacterium Method on the Proteins and Secondary Metabolites of Apple and Tobacco Shoots

Abstract

One of the concerns about genetically modified foods is that unexpected or unintended proteins or metabolites might result from the genetic modification of crops. We prepared transgenic tobacco and apple shoots as model plants and analyzed the proteins and phenolics to provide fundamental knowledge about the safety of genetically modified foods. An antibiotic-resistant gene was used as a marker for selecting the transgenic plants, and the beta-glucuronidase gene was used to colorimetrically examine the expression of the inserted gene. The proteins and phenolics in the transgenic shoots were compared with those in the non-transgenic shoots. No significant differences were found in the electrophoretic pattern of the proteins, in the protein content, the HPLC profile of the phenolics or in the phenolic content between the non-transgenic and transgenic shoots.