Principal methods to produce marker-free GM plants

Selectable marker gene systems are vital for the development of transgenic plants, but the presence of selectable marker genes encoding antibiotic or herbicide resistance in genetically modified plants poses a number of problems. A lot of research results and various techniques have been developed to produce marker-free GM plants. The aim of this review is to describe the principal methods used for eliminating selectable marker genes to generate marker-free GM plants, concentrating on the three significant methods(co-transformation, site-specific recombinase-mediated excision, non-selected transformation) in several marker-free techniques.