Abstract
The wide use of transgenic crops has raised some concern about their escape into the field and movement of transgene to unintended hosts. Thus, it is essential to keep track of the transgenic plants in the field. Here, we show that alteration of leaf morphology, which is caused by knotted1-type homeobox genes can be a useful marker. We examined transgenic tobacco expressing the homeobox gene that exhibited ‘curved’, ‘wrinkled’, or ‘dwarf’ phenotype whose foliar malformations were easily distinguished from wild-type plants with the naked eye. Expression of the homeobox genes could have various effects on some growth parameters of the host plants. However, the growth of ‘curved’-type transgenic plants was not much different from that of wild-type plants, suggesting that the ‘curved’ phenotype is a useful marker for assessing the whereabouts of transgenes/transformants in the field.
