High oil germplasm was used to increase germination, as well as to assist in increasing expression 20-fold in five generations through breeding and selection. It was hypothesized that the high oillines might provide substrate for the laccase-generated free radicals to act upon, thereby preventing the accumulation of free radicals that alter seed physiology, such as increased lignification. Down regulation of onebof the major enzymes involved in lignin biosynthesis, 4-coumarate: coenzyme A ligase  in transgenicaspen , resulted in a 45% decrease in lignin with a compensation of 15% increase in cellulose,doubling the plant cellulose:lignin ratio without any change in lignin composition and without any apparent harm to plant growth, development or structural integrity . Poplar with CAD antisense constructs grows similar to control trees but with an increase in the proportion of free phenolic groups in lignin facilitating solubilization and fragmentation .

Poly 3-hydroxyalkanoates  are a class of microbially produced polyesters comprising of at least 100 different PHA constituents and at least five different dedicated PHA biosynthetic pathways  with potential application as biodegradable plastics. Arai et al.  was able to transfer from Aeromonas caviae FA440 modified PHA synthase gene  into Arabidopsis thaliana that enabled the plant to accumulate PHA in its tissues. Cahoon et al.  reported that expression of a gene from pot marigold encoding an enzyme that introduces conjugated double bonds into polyunsaturated fatty acids resulted in the accumulation of calendic acid, a novel conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acid, to amounts of 20% – 25% of the reported total soybean seed oil. Calendicacid is even more oxidatively unstable than linolenic acid, thus improving the drying properties of coating applications.However, the level of calendic acid concentration in soybean at 20% – 25% remains much lower than55% concentration found in the marigold. Castor  oil contains high levels  of ricinoleic acid needed for conversion to substitutes for petroleum derived lubricants, emulsifiers, inks, and nylons.

Unfortunately, castor cultivation is prohibited in most countries as the seeds also contain toxin ricin. The level of ricinoleic acid achieved in tobacco and Arabidopsis have been only to the amount of ˂1% and 17%, respectively. Singh et al. observed that although a single gene may regulate ricinoleic acid synthesis, its accumulation intriglycerol most likely required involvement of other genes. Napier  noted that, thus far, it has been difficult to attain levels of industrially desirable fatty acids in transgenic plants similar to found in the non-agronomic source plants.McKeon  reported the ongoing efforts to enhance industrial chemical constituents in important crops.Canola with high laurate for detergent and soybean with high oleate for food and monomers have reached commercial stage, while canola with petroselenate for food and monomers, soybean with vernolate for plasticizers and coatings, cotton with low-saturates for food uses are in development. There are many reports of transgenic plants exhibiting tolerance to varying levels of heavy metals, a trait useful for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. Arabidopsis thaliana transformed by type 2 MT gene from cattail  exhibited an increased tolerance to Cu2+ and Cd2+ .Indian mustard  plants overexpressing ATP sulphurylase were shown to have higher shoot Seconcentrations and enhanced Se tolerance compared to wild type when grown in the presence of selenite .

Family of sulfur rich peptides termed phytochelatins  are able to bind to Cd and some other heavy metals  and transgenic tobacco plants over expressing cysteine synthase in either the cytosol or chloroplasts were more tolerant to metals such as Cd, Se and Ni . Transgenic plants have been developed with altered transporter genes with the aim to exclude a toxic metal ion, transporting the metal into the apoplastic space and vacuole where metal would be less likely to exert a toxic effect. Phytoremediation uses different plant processes and mechanisms normally involved in the accumulation, complexation, volatilization, and degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants . Table 2 shows categorization of different processes used by some of the model transgenic plants in phytoremediation. Most of the information available today is either from laboratory and or greenhouse experiments. Elaborated field testing is required to validate and establish the effectiveness of these transgenic plants for actual cleanup of contaminated metal sites. Genetic transformation studies have shown the potential of producing recombinant proteins, including pharmaceuticals and industrial proteins, and other secondary metabolites in plants. Several substances have already been produced in transgenic plants and are in different stages of clinical trials  but none of them were approved as pharmaceutical for humans until 2012. Recently, an enzyme, for treating the rare hereditary Gaucher disease  generated in carrot tissue became the first Plant Made Pharmaceutical for human use to gain regulatory approval by the US FDA .