Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 26:65–103, 2007 Copyright c  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0735-2689 print / 1549-7836 online DOI: 10.1080/07352680701252809 Advances in Transgenic Rice Biotechnology Hitesh Kathuria, Jitender Giri, Himani Tyagi, and Akhilesh K. Tyagi Interdisciplinary Center for Plant Genomics and Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi–110021, India Referee: Dr. Z. T. Li, Mid-Florida Research & Education Center, University of Florida/IFAS, Apopka, FL 32703 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 67 II. TRANSFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 67 A. Agrobacterium-mediated Gene Transfer ........................................................................................................ 67 B. Particle Bombardment .................................................................................................................................. 68 C. Other Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 68 III. RICE FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS ................................................................................................................... 68 IV. ANALYSIS OF REGULATORY ELEMENTS ................................................................................................... 69 V. ENHANCEMENT OF STRESS TOLERANCE ................................................................................................. 70 A. Biotic Stress Tolerance ................................................................................................................................. 70 1. Insect Resistance ............................................................................................................................... 70 2. Bacterial Disease Resistance ............................................................................................................... 82 3. Fungal Disease Resistance .................................................................................................................. 83 4. Viral Resistance ................................................................................................................................. 83 B. Abiotic Stress Tolerance ............................................................................................................................... 83 C. Herbicide Tolerance ..................................................................................................................................... 85 VI. IMPROVEMENT OF GRAIN QUALITY ......................................................................................................... 86 A. Nutritional Enhancement .............................................................................................................................. 86 B. Alteration of Starch Content ......................................................................................................................... 87 VII. YIELD IMPROVEMENT ................................................................................................................................. 87 VIII. OTHER APPLICATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 87 A. Control of Plant Development ....................................................................................................................... 87 B. Production of Novel Compounds .................................................................................................................. 89 C. Technological Innovations ............................................................................................................................ 89 IX. TRANSGENE SILENCING .............................................................................................................................. 89 X. ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOSAFETY ASPECTS .......................................................................................... 90 XI. AGRIBUSINESS AND THE FUTURE OF TRANSGENIC RICE ..................................................................... 91 Address correspondence to Akhilesh K. Tyagi, Interdisciplinary Center for Plant Genomics and Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India. E-mail: akhilesh@genomeindia.org 65