Effects of Sonication and Vacuum Infiltration on Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation in Immature Embryos of Korean Wheat Genotypes

The effects of sonication and vacuum infiltration on transformation efficiency was investigated by using immature embryos of Korean wheat as explants. Two Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains, KYRT1 and EHA105, carrying pCAMBIA 1305.1 were used. Transformation efficiency was demonstrated by the detection of β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity. GUS expression showed clear difference among Korean wheat cultivars. Geurumil showed higher GUS expression efficiency 79.1 % compared with other cultivars. The effects of the duration of vacuum infiltration and sonication treatment showed a tendency high GUS expression efficiency by their combination. In comparison with other Agrobacterium strains, KYRT1 showed high efficiency in most Korean cultivars.