Transformation of Chinese Cabbage(Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)by Agrobacterium Micro-Injection into Flower Bud

We obtained two lines of Chinese head cabbage(Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)selfed progenies containing both an anti-sense gene of BcpLH and a gene for resistance to kanamycin by micro-injecting buds of their primary transformants(T0)with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404. 31 positive plants resistant to kanamycien were recovered. Southern blot analysis confirmed the presence of T-DNA in two transgenic plants. One(DHZ-13-1)exhibits the characteristics of out-toward rosette and cauline leaves, and nested flower model in which secondary complete flower developed from the base of the primary ovary and the third flower from the ovary in the secondary flower, and so on, while another(DHZ-6-1)has no phenotype change. ABA and IAA affected the root growth of progeny of DHZ-13-1, but 6-BA was insensitive to hypocotyl growth during its seedling development.

Factors Affecting Transformation Efficiency by Micro-Injecting Agrobacterium into Flower Bud of Chinese Cabbage

Three main parameters were selected to study their importance in transformation by budmicroinjection in non-head Chinese cabbage [Brassica campestris ssp. chinensis (L.) Makinovar. communis Tsen et Lee]. The results showed that the developmental stage of floral bud, theconcentrations of sucrose and surfactant Silwet L-77 were critical for the successfultransformation by this new method. The suitable bud size is 2-3 mm in length, the favorableconcentration of sucrose and surfactant Silwet L-77 are 8 and 0.02% respectively. When thesucrose concentration was greater than 10% or that of Silwet L-77 was above 0.1%, the treatedbuds became yellow and finally blighted. 4/6 T1 seedlings resistant to kanamycin were positiveby PCR analysis, and T2 progeny of all these positive T1 plants have one or more hybridizingbands by Southern blot. Under 5% sucrose, 0.02% Silwet L-77 and grade 2 bud (2-3 mm in itslength) parameters, the most favorable transformation efficiency is about 0.56%, and meanefficiency reaches 0.16% in all experiments indicating that bud microinjection is potentialtransformation way in non-head Chinese cabbage.

Leaf Downward Curvature and Delayed Flowering Caused by AtLH Overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana

AtLHgene of Arabidopsis is a BcpLH(leafy head) homolog of Chinese cabbage, which encodes a double-stranded RNA-binding protein related to the curvature of folding leaf leading to the formation of leafy head. In order to elucidate the regulatory function of AtLH in the development of leaf curvature, we made a construct of 35S::AtLHand transformed it to Arabidopsis. In transgenic plants for sense-AtLH, transcripts of AtLH gene were increased significantly in leaves and flowers, giving rise to the AtLH-overexpressed plants in which the rosette leaves curved downward or outward in a manner of enhanced epinastic growth. Compared with normal plants, bolting and flowering time of the transgenic plants was significantly delayed. Moreover, the apical dominance of transgenic plants was weaker in vegetative shoots since more axillary shoots emerged from axil of rosette leaves, while stronger in flowering shoots because fewer cauline inflorescences were observed on the main inflorescence. In other aspects, these transgenic plants exhibited an increase in root-stimulating response to IAA and decrease in root-inhibitory reaction on ABA. It indicates that overexpression of AtLH causes downward curvature of transgenic plants.

Agrobacterium-Mediated Multiple Gene Transformation in Rice Using a Single Vector

Abstract: The homodimeric hemoglobin gene (VHb), the trans-zeatin synthetase gene (tzs), the modified 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase gene (EPSPS), a selectable marker gene (hpt), and a reporter gene (gus), as linked expression cassettes, were stacked into the T-DNA region of a binary vector and introduced simultaneously into immature embryos of the rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties Xiushui-11, Qiufeng, Youfeng, and Hanfeng by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. A total of 1 153 transgenic lines was obtained through selection for hygromycin B resistance. Approximately 90.2% of the transgenic lines harbored all the transgenes. Integration of multiple transgenes occurred at one to three genetic loci. Expression analysis revealed that the transgenes were coexpressed and inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion in transgenic plants and the frequency of coexpression was approximately 85%. On the basis of the cointegration and coexpression of the transgenes, most transgenic families were considered to be useful in a breeding program.

T-DNA Integration Category and Mechanism in Rice Genome

Abstract: T-DNA integration is a key step in the process of plant transformation, which is proven to be important for analyzing T-DNA integration mechanism. The structures of T-DNA right borders inserted into the rice (Oryza sativa L.) genome and their flanking sequences were analyzed. It was found that the integrated ends of the T-DNA right border occurred mainly on five nucleotides “TGACA” in inverse repeat (IR) sequence of 25 bp, especially on the third base “A”. However, the integrated ends would sometimes lie inward of the IR sequence, which caused the IR sequence to be lost completely. Sometimes the right integrated ends appeared on the vector sequences rightward of the T-DNA right border, which made the T-DNA, carrying vector sequences, integrated into the rice genome. These results seemingly suggest that the IR sequence of the right border plays an important role in the process of T-DNA integration into the rice genome, but is not an essential element. The appearance of vector sequences neighboring the T-DNA right border suggested that before being transferred into the plant cell from Agrobacterium, the entire T-DNA possibly began from the left border in synthesis and then read through at the right border. Several nucleotides in the T-DNA right border homologous with plant DNA and filler DNAs were frequently discovered in the integrated position of T-DNA. Some small regions in the right border could match with the plant sequence, or form better matches, accompanied by the occurrence of filler DNA, through mutual twisting, and then the T-DNA was integrated into plant chromosome through a partially homologous recombination mechanism. The appearance of filler DNA would facilitate T-DNA integration. The fragments flanking the T-DNA right border in transformed rice plants could derive from different parts of the inner T-DNA region; that is, disruption and recombination could occur at arbitrary positions in the entire T-DNA, in which the homologous area was comparatively easier to be disrupted. The structure of flanking sequences of T-DNA integrated in the rice chromosome presented various complexities. These complexities were probably a result of different patterns of recombination in the integrating process. Some types of possible integrating mechanism are detailed.