ARS | Publication request: Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Prunus salicina

Submitted to: Plant Cell Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2008
Publication Date: May 21, 2008
Citation: Urtubia, C., Devia, J., Castro, A., Zamora, P., Aguirre, C., Tapia, E., Barba, P., Dell'Orto, P., Moynihan, M., Petri, C., Scorza, R., Prieto, H. 2008. Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Prunus salicina. Plant Cell Reports. DOI 10.1007/s00299-008-0559-0.

Interpretive Summary: Finding the genes that control important traits in plants such as disease and insect resistance, resistance to cold, heat, and drought and nutritive qualities depends upon having a system in which the genes can be tested. In tree fruits, "model" plants are usually used to test the function of genes that are identified through sequencing projects. The "model" plants that are generally used are not trees and do not produce fruit. Therefore, many important fruit tree genes cannot be adequately tested. We have developed a system to insert genes into plum trees that will allow researchers to test the function of fruit tree genes in a fruit tree system and can also be used to improve plum trees through genetic engineering.

Technical Abstract: We report Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation from hypocotyls slices of two Prunus salicina varieties, 'Angeleno' and 'Larry Anne', using a modification of the technique previously described for P. domestica. Regeneration rates on thidiazuron (TDZ) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) supplemented Murashige and Skoog (MS) media reached 15% for 'Angeleno' and 5.8% for 'Larry Anne' hypocotyl slices. Transformation using Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101 harboring a plasmid with the neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) and the green fluorescent protein (gfp) genes produced ten independent lines from 'Angeleno' explants and four from 'Larry Anne'. Of these plants, six lines were found to produce the transgenic mRNAs. DNA blotting from greenhouse grown plants demonstrated the stable transformation of five lines.