Dramatic progress has been made in the development of gene transfer systems for higher plants. The ability to introduce foreign genes into plant cells and tissues and to regenerate viable, fertile plants has allowed for explosive expansion of our understanding of plant biology and has provided an unparalleled opportunity to modify and improve crop plants. Genetic engineering of plants offers significant potential for seed, agrichemical, food processing, specialty chemical, and pharmaceutical industries to develop new products and manufacturing processes. The extent to which genetically engineered plants will have an impact on key industries will be determined both by continued technical progress and by issues such as regulatory approval, proprietary protection, and public perception.

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Genetically Engineering Plants for Crop Improvement

Direct gene transfer has proved to be an efficient transformation method for Arabidopsis thaliana, a member of the Brassicaceae. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants resistant to hygromycin B have been regenerated from mesophyll protoplasts treated with polyethylene glycol and plasmid DNA carrying the hygromycin phosphotransferase (HPT) gene under the control of the 35 S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus. The transformation procedure reproducibly yields transformants at frequencies of approximately 1 x 10(-4) (based on the number of protoplasts treated) or 5% (based on the number of regenerating calli). DNA from plants regenerated from hygromycin resistant colonies was analysed by Southern blot hybridization demonstrating that the foreign gene is stably integrated into the plant chromosome. Genetic analysis of several hygromycin resistant plants showed that the HPT gene is transmitted to the progeny. Transformation experiments performed with a selectable and a non-selectable gene on separate plasmids resulted in a co-transformation rate of functionally active copies in about 25% of the transformants analysed. Hence this approach can be used to introduce non-selectable genes into the Arabidopsis genome.

Efficient Transformation of Arabidopsis-Thaliana Using Direct Gene-Transfer to Protoplasts

A transformation system that allows regeneration of transgenic pea plants from calli selected for antibiotic resistance was developed. Explants from axenic shoot cultures and seedling epicotyls were cocultivated with nononcogenic Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains, and transformed callus could be selected on callus-inducing media containing either 15 mg/l hygromycin or 75 mg/l kanamycin. After several passages on regeneration medium, shoot organogenesis could be reproducibly induced on hygromycin-resistant calli, but not on the calli selected for kanamycin resistance. Regenerated shoots could subsequently be rooted and transferred into the greenhouse. In addition, the effects of different callus-inducing and growth media on organogenesis were investigated. The transformation of the calli and regenerated plants was confirmed by DNA analysis.

Production of transgenic pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens - mediated gene transfer.

Two strains of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) ICCV-1 and ICCV-6, were used for transgenic plant generation. Embryo axis of mature seed devoid of the root meristem and the shoot apex was used as experimental material. The explants were cultured in medium containing MS macro salts, 4 × MS micro salts, B5 vitamins, 3.0 mg l−1 BAP, 0.004 mg l−1 NAA, 30 mg l−1 sucrose and cultured at 26 °C in dark, 24 h prior to bombardment. Gene delivery to the explants was carried out using a Bio-Rad Biolistic 1000/He particle gun. A chimaeric, truncated bacterial cryIA(c) gene construct was developed for plant expression with the CaMV35S promoter, nos terminator, an initiatory kozak sequence and a translational enhancer (STAR-P) sequence of tobacco mosaic virus. This cryIA(c) gene was cotransferred with a plasmid containing nptII gene as the selection marker. Transgenic kanamycin resistant chickpea plants were obtained through multiple shoot formation and repeated selection of the bombarded explants. Molecular analyses of the transformants revealed the presence of the transferred functional cryIA(c) gene in plant. Insect feeding assay indicated that the expression level of the cryIA(c) gene was inhibitory to the development of the feeding larvae of Heliothis armigera Hubner, the chickpea pod-borer

Expression of cryIA(c) gene of Bacillus thuringiensis in transgenic chickpea plants inhibits development of pod-borer (Heliothis armigera) larvae

The most widely used technique for the introduction of new genetic information into plant cells is based on the natural gene transfer capacity ofAgrobacterium tumefaciens. Currently, this technique is routinely applicable in just a few model species, like tobacco and petunia. Thus far, the numerous efforts to apply the technique to crop species have had limited success. In this review, an attempt is made to survey all the research experience onAgrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of recalcitrant crops and to highlight the problems generally encountered. The main difficulty appears to be directing the gene transfer towards those plant cells that are amenable to regeneration. The various ways to reduce stress during the transformation and regeneration process are often beneficial. The influence of the developmental stage of the plant material and the host range of theAgrobacterium strain depends largely on the plant species used, which hampers the formulation of common procedures. However, some general guidelines for the development of a transformation protocol are discussed.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation of recalcitrant crops

Direct gene transfer proved to be an efficient transformation method for Vigna aconitifolia, a member of the legume family. Kanamycin resistant calli and plants were regenerated from heat shocked protoplasts treated with PEG and plasmid DNA containing the coding region for aminoglycoside phosphotransferase gene (NPT II). The plant cultivar used was an important factor in attaining higher transformation frequencies. Transformation was confirmed by Southern blot analysis using a non-radioactive detection system. Attempts to transform mesophyll and suspension cultured cells by this method were unsuccessful. Protoplasts electroporated with the plasmid pCAP212, which codes for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, exhibited transient expression of this gene two days after treatment while electroporated cells did not show this enzyme activity. It is therefore assumed that the DNA uptake is prevented by the cell wall.

Stable transformation of moth bean Vigna aconitifolia via direct gene transfer.

A simplified protoplast regeneration system for Vigna aconitifolia was developed. A plating efficiency of 60% was obtained using mesophyll protoplasts from 10-day-old seedlings. By co-cultivation of protoplasts with Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing the Ti plasmid derivative pGV 3850∶1103 neo kanamycin-resistant colonies were obtained; 23% of the transformed lines showed expression of the nonselected co-transferred nopaline synthase gene. Transformation was confirmed by Southern blot analysis using a nonradioactive detection system. The plant cultivar used was an important factor in determining transformation frequencies since one of the cultivars had an 85 fold higher transformation rate than the other.

Cultivar dependence of transformation rates in moth bean after co-cultivation of protoplasts with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Influence of plant cultivar and plasmid-DNA on transformation rates in tobacco and moth bean

Besides the Aqrobacterium tumefaciens mediated gene transfer, the direct gene transfer is an established technique for transforming single cells of higher plants. Transformation rates are influenced by factors like heat shock, PEG-concentration, carrier-DNA and incubation time (Shillito et al. 1985). Here, the influence of plant genotype on the transformation rates was investigated using several varieties of four plant species. The importance of plant genotype on the regeneration potential in cell and tissue culture is recognized since many years. Other important factors, incubation media and vectors carrying different antibiotic marker genes and/or promotors, also influenced the transformation rates obtained.

S. Eapen

Papers

Stable transformation of moth bean Vigna aconitifolia via direct gene transfer.

Cultivar dependence of transformation rates in moth bean after co-cultivation of protoplasts with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Influence of plant cultivar and plasmid-DNA on transformation rates in tobacco and moth bean

Transformation Studies in Tobacco, Moth Bean and Brassica Species