Transformation and Regeneration of Non-Solanaceous Crop Plants

Currently, the production of transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and petunia (Petunia hybrida) plants is considered routine using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods (Gasser and Fraley, 1989). The basic protocol involves the inoculation of leaf pieces with disarmed Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains which confer kanamycin resistance. After a period of Agrobacterium and explant co-culture of several days, the growth of the bacterial population is inhibited by bacteriostatic antibiotics and the leaf tissue is induced to regenerate. The induction and development of shoots on leaf explants occurs in the presence of kanamycin, and the majority of the callus and shoots produced contain the gene for kanamycin resistance and express that phenotype. Large numbers of transgenic plants can be produced using this method.