Journal of Biochemistry Research

Plant Genetic Material

            Like all living organisms, plants use deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as genetic material. DNA in plant cells is located in the cell nucleus, in the mitochondria and in the chloroplast. The last two organelles are the offspring of bacteria that are captured by eukaryotic cells and converted to endosymbionts. DNA is a set of coded instructions for producing RNA. RNA can act as an independent regulatory molecule or as part of a cellular machine or as a set of instructions for making proteins or a combination of both. The overall architecture of a gene consists of two general components, the regulatory region and the coding or structural region of a gene. Genome size varies between plants, although the number of non-transferable elements that encode protein genes is very similar. Most differences in genome size are caused by differences in the number of transposable elements. Plant genetic resources are used by farmers and scientists as raw materials for the cultivation of new plant varieties and in biotechnology and represent a reservoir for genetic diversity that serves as a buffer against ecological and economic changes.  

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