Modification of the Plant Genome by Genetic Engineering Methods: Directions and Ways of Development

The development and improvement of molecular and cellular biology methods has significantly expanded the capabilities of researchers to modify the genomes of plant cells and served as the basis for the development of new technologies for obtaining recombinant proteins used in pharmaceuticals and other sectors of the national economy and has also stimulated the creation of new high-yielding varieties of important agricultural crops that are resistant to unfavorable abiotic and biotic environmental factors. The transfer of genes into the plant genome from other heterologous systems has raised a number of questions for researchers related to the functioning of transgenes in the new environment of the recipient genome as well as their influence on the functioning of the plant’s own genes. Over the past 40 years since the first transgenic plant was produced, the capabilities of these technologies have been significantly deepened and expanded through the development of genome-editing methods based on the CRISPR/Cas system. This made it possible not only to change the functioning of target genes through knockouts or to correct unwanted mutations but also to introduce genes of interest into target regions of the plant genome specified by the researcher. The proposed review examines the main stages of research on the modification of plant genomes over the past 40 years, with an emphasis not only on the practical significance of the created agrobiotechnologies but also on the importance for fundamental research on the functioning of genes and the identification of structural features of the organization of the plant genome.