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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #90339
Title: COTTON VARIETY AND BACTERIAL STRAIN INTERACTIONS DURING AGROBACTERIA- BASED GENETIC TRANSFORMATION

Author
item Velten, Jeffrey
item Quisenberry, Jerry
item Cartwright, Greg

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/28/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Most commercially important cotton varieties are not currently candidates for direct genetic improvement via modern DNA biotechnology due to the difficulty of producing intact, viable and fertile plants containing the introduced genes. The introduction of desired genes into plant segments most commonly makes use of the natural genetic transfer between the soil bacterium, Agrobacteria tumefaciens and plant cells. This technique is largely limited to a few cotton varieties where entire plants can be induced from plant material manipulated under tissue culture conditions. Alternative technologies for introducing genes into cotton currently suffer from very low efficiencies. One approach to extending the range of cotton varieties amenable to direct genetic manipulation is to more closely examine the interaction between different cotton varieties and agrobacteria strains. The correct matching of cotton variety and agrobacterial strain has the potential of greatly enhancing the efficiency of cotton genetic transformation. The results of our experiments clearly indicate a wide range in the ability of different cotton varieties to successfully receive and express genes introduced by agrobacteria (the overall efficiency of gene transfer varied from 0% to 86%). Additionally, a consistent difference in the effectiveness of cotton genetic transformation was exhibited by the two A. tumefaciens lines tested. The results of these experiments demon- strate that further characterization of different Agrobacteria strains is necessary for optimal agrobacteria-mediated gene transfer to cotton.

Technical Abstract: The influence of two different lines of Agrobacterium tumefaciens upon gene transfer, uptake, expression and integration in several cotton varieties has been examined. Both bacterial line and plant genotype contribute significantly to the success of cotton genetic transformation.