Abstract:Gateway molecular cloning technology was developed by Invitrogen based on the mechanism of site-specific recombination between λ phage DNA and the Escherichia coli genome.Construction of an expression vector for a target gene via Gateway LR reaction does not need to use restriction enzymes and a ligase,and thus is time efficient. Recently,to expand the application of Gateway technology in plant genetic engineering,several research groups have constructed Gateway destination vectors for studies on constitutive,inducible or silence expression of target genes,promoter analyses,protein localization,protein/protein interaction,DNA fragment modular assembly and functional verification of genomic fragments.Here we review research progress on the development of these destination vectors.