REGENERATION OF PLANTS FROM DIGITALIS LANATA CELLS TRANSFORMED WITH AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS CARRYING BACTERIAL GENES ENCODING NEOMYCIN PHOSPHOTRANSFERASE II AND BETA-GLUCURONIDASE

摘要

Leaf discs of axenically grown Digitalis lanata plants as well as protoplasts of the embryogenic D. lanata strain VII were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58 CI using the integration vector pGV 3850::1103 neo and the binary vectors pGA 471 and pBI 121. These vectors carried bacterial genes encoding neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPT II) and beta-glucuronidase (GUS). Transformed calli were selected by their resistance to kanamycin. The presence of the GUS gene in the genome of the transformed calli and plants was demonstrated by hybridization experiments with radioactive labeled pRT 103gus. The GUS gene was constitutively expressed in the transformed calli as well as in regenerated plants. The GUS activity of individual calli and plants showed a broad heterogeneity.