Transgene intergration in plants: poking or patching holes in promiscuous genomes?

Transgene integration in plants transformed by either Agrobacterium or direct DNA delivery methods occurs through illegitimate recombination (R). The precise mechanism(s) for IR-mediated transgene integration and the role of host double-strand break repair enzymes remain unknown. A recent wealth of sequenced transgene loci and investigations aimed at genetically dissecting transgene integration mechanism(s) have provided new insights into the process.