Transformation of Populus alba and Direct Selection of Transformants with the Herbicide Bialaphos

摘要

Genetically transformed Populus alba plants were regenerated from calli which were derived from stem segments after co-cultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101 (pMP90) that harbored a binary vector into which genes for resistance to the herbicide bialaphos (bar) and for β-glucuronidase (GUS) had been incorporated. The bar gene was controlled by the promoter of a gene for nopaline synthase and included the polyadenylation region from the RbcS-2B gene of Arabidopsis thaliana, which encodes the small subunit of ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. The ability of Agrobacterium-treated stem segments to produce calli in the presence of bialaphos, histochemical assays of GUS activity in leaves, and analysis by genomic PCR confirmed the success of transformation No "escape" plants and no chrmeric transgenic plants were obtained in this transformation system, because of the harsh nature of the selection with bialaphos. The morphology of regenerated plants resembled that of the original parental strain.