Transgenic tobacco cultivars resistant to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci

Six oriental cultivars of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) were evaluated for transformation and foreign gene expression. Leaf-disc explant tissue was transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 carrying the plasmid pARK21, which contains NPTII gene and ttr (tabtoxin resistance) gene conferring the resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. The disease resistance of regenerated plants and segregation of this trait up to R7 progeny were investigated in a greenhouse and under field conditions. Our results indicated that the resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci introduced by transformation is heritable.