Oils extracted from rose-scented geranium species have many uses in
the perfumery, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries.
Because of the importance of essential oils from geraniums,
researchers are seeking ways to increase oil yield and quality in the
species.

Indian researchers report that one method that can help improve
geranium oil quality is the hairy root transformation method. The group of
Gauri Saxena produced transgenic geraniums from the cultivar ?Hemanti? using
Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated re-insertion. Hairy root cultures from
Hemanti were produced by wounding explants with sterile needles dipped in
bacterial suspension. The wounded explants were subsequently grown in a
tissue culture medium.

The researchers reported that two of their transgenic lines differ in
oil composition profiles from the non-transformed control. The transgenics
have oils that have low concentration of citronellol and high concentration
of geraniol. In addition, there are higher levels of compounds called
geranyl esters which improve olfactory value.

For more information, the paper published in Plant Cell, Tissue and
Organ Culture can be accessed by subscribers at

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