Molecular analysis of transgenic oil palm to detect the presence of transgenes

In order to meet the increasing demand of oleochemical industries, genetic engineering was initiated to modify the fatty acid composition of oil palm with the aim to increase the production of oleic acid to be used as a feedstock. Biolistic approach was used for inserting an antisense palmitoyl-ACP-thioesterase sequence into oil palm tissues to down regulate the activity of palmitoyl-ACP-thioesterase, and increase the accumulation of oleic acid at the expense of palmitic acid. Genomic DNA was isolated from transgenic oil palm and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the, selectable marker gene (bar) and gene of interest, antisense palmitoyl-ACP-thioesterase, was successfully carried out. The presence of trans genes was confirmed by DNA sequencing.