Characterization of plant genetic modifications using next-generation sequencing

Abstract

In the last few years, many studies have demonstrated that nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) technologies can facilitate the detection and molecular characterization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). T-DNA localization and copy number determination in transgenic plants are very useful in basic research projects because of its implications in transgene expression level and stability, and are absolutely necessary for the commercialization of a GMO. The high throughput of NGS together with its continuously decreasing cost makes it a very rapid, costeffective, and efficient tool for this task, faster and less laborious than the classical Southern blot and genome walking techniques. Moreover, the recent development of bioinformatics tools designed for users with no specific knowledge of computer science makes this approach affordable to the whole scientific community. Successful wet lab strategies and bioinformatics pipelines reported in the literature will be reviewed and discussed here.