Molecular Insights of Hairy Root Culture

Abstract

Hairy root culture is one of the most versatile plant transformation technologies that involves in vitro operations and genetic manipulation. It has been a powerful tool in plant biotechnology for over four decades, particularly for bioprospecting pharmaceutically and industrially valuable secondary metabolites due to its rapid growth, genetic stability, and high biosynthetic capacity. Prior to transformation, molecular machinery can be modified, including promoter optimization or codon usage adjustment, to enhance gene integration and expression, enabling the creation of transgenic roots. More recently, hairy roots have become a robust platform for CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing, offering fast, efficient, and tissue-specific transformation—especially beneficial for validating genome-editing strategies in crops that are otherwise recalcitrant to transformation, like cotton or soybean. The present chapter highlights details about molecular markers used in the hairy root culture technique with unfailing examples. © 2027 selection and editorial matter, Arpan Modi, Megha Barot, Sachidanand Singh, and Azamal Husenindividual chapters, the contributors.