The concepts of synthetic biology have the potential to transform plant genetics, both in how we analyze genetic pathways and how we transfer that knowledge into useful applications. While synthetic biology can be applied at the level of the single gene or small groups of genes, this commentary focuses on the ultimate challenge of designing fully synthetic plant chromosomes. Engineering at this scale will allow us to manipulate whole genome architecture and to modify multiple pathways and traits simultaneously. Advances in genome synthesis make it likely that the initial phases of plant chromosome construction will occur in bacteria and yeast. Here I discuss the next steps, including specific ways of overcoming technical barriers associated with plant transformation, functional centromere design, and ensuring accurate meiotic transmission.

合成生物学的概念在我们如何分析遗传途径以及如何将这些知识转化为有用的应用方面都具有转化植物遗传学的潜力。虽然合成生物学可以应用于单个基因或基因的小型组，但是此评论集中在设计完全合成的植物染色体的最终挑战上。如此规模的工程设计将使我们能够操纵整个基因组架构，并同时修改多种途径和性状。基因组合成的进展使得植物染色体构建的初始阶段很可能发生在细菌和酵母中。在这里，我讨论了下一步，包括克服与植物转化，功能着丝粒设计有关的技术障碍以及确保准确的减数分裂传递的具体方法。