Floral spray transformation can efficiently generate Arabidopsis transgenic plants

In this study, floral spray and floral dip were used to replace the vacuum step in the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of a superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene into Arabidopsis. The transgene was constructed by using a CaMV 35S promoter to drive a rice cytosolic CuZnSOD coding sequence in Arabidopsis. The transgene construct was developed in binary vectors and mobilized into Agrobacterium. When Arabidopsis plants started to initiate flower buds, the primary inflorescence shoots were removed and then transformed by floral spray or floral dip. More than 300 transgenic plants were generated to assess the feasibility of floral spray used in the in planta transformation. The result indicates that the floral spray method of Agrobacterium can achieve rates of in planta transformation comparable to the vacuum-infiltration and floral dip methods. The floral spray method opens up the possibility of in planta transformation of plant species which are too large for dipping or vacuum infiltration.     

喷雾:一种简便的拟南芥转化方法

目的：建立一种改良的且操作更为简便可行的拟南芥转化方法。方法：用含有OD600等于0．8的农杆菌,5%蔗糖和0. 2 ml/L表面活性剂Silwet L-77的MS液体培养基喷洒正在发育的花器官即可实现基因转化。植物生长到高约4cm时进行转化,此时植物具有大量的花和极少数的果荚,可以得到比较高的转化效率。喷洒溶液后将植物用保鲜膜等材料包裹起来以保持湿度,可有利于转化。结果：得到了365棵转化植株,转化效率和花器官浸泡法的基本一致。结论：这种方法可适用于多种生态型的拟南芥植物转化,并且方便大规模的拟南芥植物的转化,便于人们快速获得带有T-DNA标记的植株或基因遗传互补工作的顺利开展。     

Floral dip: a simplified method for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana

The Agrobacterium vacuum infiltration method has made it possible to transform Arabidopsis thaliana without plant tissue culture or regeneration. In the present study, this method was evaluated and a substantially modified transformation method was developed. The labor-intensive vacuum infiltration process was eliminated in favor of simple dipping of developing floral tissues into a solution containing Agrobacterium tumefaciens, 5% sucrose and 500 microliters per litre of surfactant Silwet L-77. Sucrose and surfactant were critical to the success of the floral dip method. Plants inoculated when numerous immature floral buds and few siliques were present produced transformed progeny at the highest rate. Plant tissue culture media, the hormone benzylamino purine and pH adjustment were unnecessary, and Agrobacterium could be applied to plants at a range of cell densities. Repeated application of Agrobacterium improved transformation rates and overall yield of transformants approximately twofold. Covering plants for 1 day to retain humidity after inoculation also raised transformation rates twofold. Multiple ecotypes were transformable by this method. The modified method should facilitate high-throughput transformation of Arabidopsis for efforts such as T-DNA gene tagging, positional cloning, or attempts at targeted gene replacement.     

ZFN-induced mutagenesis and gene-targeting in Arabidopsis through Agrobacterium-mediated floral dip transformation

Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) are artificial restriction enzymes, custom designed for induction of double-strand breaks (DSBs) at a specific locus. These DSBs may result in site-specific mutagenesis or homologous recombination at the repair site, depending on the DNA repair pathway that is used. These promising techniques for genome engineering were evaluated in Arabidopsis plants using Agrobacterium -mediated floral dip transformation. A T-DNA containing the target site for a ZFN pair, that was shown to be active in yeast, was integrated in the Arabidopsis genome. Subsequently, the corresponding pair of ZFN genes was stably integrated in the Arabidopsis genome and ZFN activity was determined by PCR and sequence analysis of the target site. Footprints were obtained in up to 2% of the PCR products, consisting of deletions ranging between 1 and 200 bp and insertions ranging between 1 and 14 bp. We did not observe any toxicity from expression of the ZFNs. In order to obtain ZFN-induced gene-targeting (GT), Arabidopsis plants containing the target site and expressing the ZFN pair were transformed with a T-DNA GT construct. Three GT plants were obtained from ∼3000 transformants. Two of these represent heritable true GT events, as determined by PCR, Southern blot analysis and sequencing of the resulting recombined locus. The third plant showed an ectopic GT event. No GT plants were obtained in a comparable number of transformants that did not contain the ZFNs. Our results demonstrate that ZFNs enhance site-specific mutagenesis and gene-targeting of Agrobacterium T-DNA constructs delivered through floral dip transformation.     

Characterization of the Arabidopsis lysine-rich arabinogalactan-protein AtAGP17 mutant (rat1) that results in a decreased efficiency of agrobacterium transformation

Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are a family of complex proteoglycans widely distributed in plants. The Arabidopsis rat1 mutant, previously characterized as resistant to Agrobacterium tumefaciens root transformation, is due to a mutation in the gene for the Lys-rich AGP, AtAGP17. We show that the phenotype of rat1 correlates with down-regulation of AGP17 in the root as a result of a T-DNA insertion into the promoter of AGP17. Complementation of rat1 plants by a floral dip method with either the wild-type AGP17 gene or cDNA can restore the plant to a wild-type phenotype in several independent transformants. Based on changes in PR1 gene expression and a decrease in free salicylic acid levels upon Agrobacterium infection, we suggest mechanisms by which AGP17 allows Agrobacterium rapidly to reduce the systemic acquired resistance response during the infection process.     

Arabidopsis ecotypes and mutants that are recalcitrant to Agrobacterium root transformation are susceptible to germ-line transformation

Germ-line transformation (vacuum infiltration) is frequently used to transform Arabidopsis thaliana using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We have recently identified several Arabidopsis ecotypes and T-DNA-tagged mutants that are recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cut root segments. Some of these ecotypes and mutants are deficient in their ability to bind bacteria. Some are deficient in T-DNA integration. We report here that using a germ-line transformation protocol we transformed these ecotypes and mutants, including attachment- and integration-defective Arabidopsis plants, with a frequency similar to that of highly susceptible wild-type plants. However, we could not transform otherwise highly susceptible Arabidopsis plants by germ-line or root transformation using several vir and attachment-deficient Agrobacterium mutants. These results indicate that certain plant factors important for transformation may exist in germ-line tissue but may be lacking in some somatic cells.     

Plant proteins that interact with VirB2, the Agrobacterium tumefaciens pilin protein, mediate plant transformation

Agrobacterium tumefaciens uses a type IV secretion system (T4SS) to transfer T-DNA and virulence proteins to plants. The T4SS is composed of two major structural components: the T-pilus and a membrane-associated complex that is responsible for translocating substrates across both bacterial membranes. VirB2 protein is the major component of the T-pilus. We used the C-terminal-processed portion of VirB2 protein as a bait to screen an Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA library for proteins that interact with VirB2 in yeast. We identified three related plant proteins, VirB2-interacting protein (BTI) 1 (BTI1), BTI2, and BTI3 with unknown functions, and a membrane-associated GTPase, AtRAB8. The three BTI proteins also interacted with VirB2 in vitro. Preincubation of Agrobacterium with GST-BTI1 protein decreased the transformation efficiency of Arabidopsis suspension cells by Agrobacterium. Transgenic BTI and AtRAB8 antisense and RNA interference Arabidopsis plants are less susceptible to transformation by Agrobacterium than are wild-type plants. The level of BTI1 protein is transiently increased immediately after Agrobacterium infection. In addition, overexpression of BTI1 protein in transgenic Arabidopsis results in plants that are hypersusceptible to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Confocal microscopic data indicate that GFP-BTI proteins preferentially localize to the periphery of root cells in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, suggesting that BTI proteins may contact the Agrobacterium T-pilus. We propose that the three BTI proteins and AtRAB8 are involved in the initial interaction of Agrobacterium with plant cells.     

A “Nonsterile” Method for Selecting and Growing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis> Transformants (T<Subscript>2</Subscript> Transgenic Lines) Resistant to Kanamycin

A breakthrough in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana research was the development of the floral dip transformation protocol, a simple and reliable method of obtaining transformants, T₁ transgenic lines, at high efficiency while avoiding the use of tissue culture. However, the traditional protocol (a “sterile” method) of obtaining T₂ transgenic lines has not evolved along with improvements in transformation technology as it continues to be laborious and time-consuming. In this study, we report on the development of an improved protocol (a “nonsterile” method) for selecting and growing A. thaliana transformants (T₂ transgenic lines) resistant to kanamycin under nonsterile conditions. This protocol involves the use of a simple yet specialized device that will aid in solium selection of T₂ transgenic lines that can be rapidly grown in a hydroponic system. The “nonsterile” method reduces labor and time involved as compared to the “sterile” method; moreover, it is easy to set up and maintain. This method may also be applicable to other selecting agents, and perhaps to other plants.     

An efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of Arabidopsis

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient transformation has been a useful procedure for characterization of proteins and their functions in plants, including analysis of protein-protein interactions. Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of Nicotiana benthamiana by leaf infiltration has been widely used due to its ease and high efficiency. However, in Arabidopsis this procedure has been challenging. Previous studies suggested that this difficulty was caused by plant immune responses triggered by perception of Agrobacterium. Here, we report a simple and robust method for Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation in Arabidopsis. AvrPto is an effector protein from the bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae that suppresses plant immunity by interfering with plant immune receptors. We used transgenic Arabidopsis plants that conditionally express AvrPto under the control of a dexamethasone (DEX)-inducible promoter. When the transgenic plants were pretreated with DEX prior to infection with Agrobacterium carrying a β-glucuronidase (GUS, uidA) gene with an artificial intron and driven by the CaMV 35S promoter, transient GUS expression was dramatically enhanced compared to that in mock-pretreated plants. This transient expression system was successfully applied to analysis of the subcellular localization of a cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) fusion and a protein-protein interaction in Arabidopsis. Our findings enable efficient use of Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation in Arabidopsis thaliana.     

谷胱甘肽转移酶基因过量表达能加速盐胁迫下转基因拟南芥的生长

盐地碱蓬谷胱甘肽转移酶基因(glutathione s-transferase gene,GST)克隆到植物表达载体pROKⅡ35s启动子的下游,通过农杆菌介导,利用花絮浸泡法转化拟南芥.转化子在含有卡那霉素的培养基上经过筛选以后,将初步验证为阳性的转基因植株通过PCR-Southem进一步证实.经过选育,筛选并分离到卡那霉素的抗性并且遗传稳定的T3代纯合子转基因拟南芥品系.通过Northern杂交证实外源基因在转基因拟南芥中表达.在盐胁迫条件下,通过测量转基因植株(GT)和野生型植株(wY)的生物量和谷胱甘肽(氧化型:GSSG;还原型:GsH)发现:转基因植株的生物量较野生型有一定程度的提高;GssG含量在转基因品系中比野生型的含量明显高.因此,过量表达GsT能够提高转基因植株在盐胁迫条件下的生长,而且这很可能是由于还原型谷胱甘肽被氧化的结果.     

桃蚜MpAChE基因RNAi表达载体构建及转化

通过害虫取食植物表达害虫发育关键基因dsRNA的转基因植株,分析能否通过抑制害虫特定基因的表达来防控害虫。本研究利用RT-PCR技术从桃蚜中克隆乙酰胆碱酯酶基因383 bp cDNA片段,命名为MpAChE。进一步利用该MpAChE基因片段构建植物RNAi表达载体RNAi-MpAChE,并通过浸花法转化野生型拟南芥,通过卡那霉素抗性筛选转化植株,PCR及Southern杂交进一步鉴定转基因植株。结果表明:克隆的cDNA片段与桃蚜中已克隆的乙酰胆碱酯酶(GenBank登录号AY147797)cDNA序列核苷酸一致性为99%。卡那霉素抗性初步筛选和PCR进一步鉴定,获得25株阳性转基因植株。从25株中随机选择的5株阳性植株,Southern杂交均为阳性。经接种桃蚜初步鉴定,转基因植株对蚜虫的抗性效果不显著。     

过量表达棉花GaSus3基因增强拟南芥的耐盐性

构建了植物过量表达载体p35S：：GaSus3,通过花序浸染法成功获得转GaSus3基因拟南芥植株。利用NaCl模拟盐胁迫处理,证实转基因拟南芥与野生型相比耐盐性明显增强。在盐胁迫下,转基因拟南芥受到的影响较小,而野生型则受盐害影响严重：转基因拟南芥具有更好的萌发率和主根长度,以保证植株正常生长;盐胁迫下转基因拟南芥能保持较多的绿色叶片,而野生型则过早黄化死亡。研究还发现,转基因拟南芥的过氧化氢酶活性在胁迫前后都高于野生型,这说明转GaSus3基因能够提高拟南芥抗氧化胁迫的能力。研究结果为进一步探讨GaSus3基因在棉花耐盐方面的功能奠定了基础。     

Floral Spray Transformation Can Efficiently Generate Arabidopsis

In this study, floral spray and floral dip were used to replace the vacuum step in the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of a superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene into Arabidopsis. The transgene was constructed by using a CaMV 35S promoter to drive a rice cytosolic CuZnSOD coding sequence in Arabidopsis. The transgene construct was developed in binary vectors and mobilized into Agrobacterium. When Arabidopsis plants started to initiate flower buds, the primary inflorescence shoots were removed and then transformed by floral spray or floral dip. More than 300 transgenic plants were generated to assess the feasibility of floral spray used in the in planta transformation. The result indicates that the floral spray method of Agrobacterium can achieve rates of in planta transformation comparable to the vacuum-infiltration and floral dip methods. The floral spray method opens up the possibility of in planta transformation of plant species which are too large for dipping or vacuum infiltration.     

Genetic transformation of Coffea canephora by vacuum infiltration

Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation protocol was evaluated as a fast method to obtain genetically modified Coffea canephora plantlets. Leaf explants were used as source material for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation involving a vacuum infiltration protocol, followed by a step of somatic embryogenesis induction and a final selection of the transformed plants. A. tumefaciens strain C58CI containing the binary vector pER10W-35SRed was used. PCR amplification of DsRFP gene and visual detection of the red fluorescent protein demonstrated 33% transformed embryos. The protocol presented here produces reliable transgenic coffee embryos in two months.     

Flower bud dipping or vacuum infiltration—two methods of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis> transformation

The purpose of this work was to evaluate two methods (floral dip and vacuum infiltration) of in planta transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana. The key issue of this work is the identification of the developmental stages of A. thaliana flower buds subjected to agroinfection, optimal for the successful transformation. Histological tests performed after agroinfection made it possible to establish the patterns of a GUSPlus reporter gene expression in the examined plants and thus precisely define the range of flower developmental stages most appropriate for efficient transformation. Two plasmids, CAMBIA 1305.1 and CAMBIA 2301, were used. Verification of the transgenic nature of plants was carried out by detection of CaMV::gusA and CaMV::GUSPlus transgenes and their expression in transgenic plants by appropriate molecular and histochemical methods. For the flower dip transformation, three concentrations of Silwet L-77 surfactant and two inoculation times were tested. The most efficient treatment appeared to be 2-min-long flower bud inoculation and 400 μl/l surfactant (pCAMBIA 1305.1 − 1.73%; pCAMBIA 2301 − 2.01%). In the case of vacuum infiltration method, the highest efficiency of the transformation occurred when the inoculation time was 4 min (pCAMBIA 2301 − 1.55%; pCAMBIA 1305.1 − 1.37%). Published in Russian in Fiziologiya Rastenii, 2009, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 619–628. This text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Optimization of the protocol for constructing transgenic plants of the white cabbage brassica oleracea var. capitata

The strain Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101, which contains the pBar vector carrying the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase gene (bar) under the control of the 35SCMoV promoter and NOS 3' terminator, was used for genetic transformation of four white cabbage lines, Ges-3, Drv-2, Zmu 7, and Meg 2. The effect of different concentrations and combinations of phytohormones was studied, which allowed for choosing the cultivation conditions that provided a 63-78% regeneration efficiency. It was demonstrated that concerted action by natural and synthetic cytokinins is necessary for the lines studied. Overall, 26 transgenic plants were obtained using the optimized protocol for agrobacterial transformation. The transgenic nature of these plants was confirmed by PCR and dot-blot hybridization.     

Floral-Dip Transformation of Flax (Linum usitatissimum) to Generate Transgenic Progenies with a High Transformation Rate

Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation via floral-dip is a widely used technique in the field of plant transformation and has been reported to be successful for many plant species. However, flax (Linum usitatissimum) transformation by floral-dip has not been reported. The goal of this protocol is to establish that Agrobacterium and the floral-dip method can be used to generate transgenic flax. We show that this technique is simple, inexpensive, efficient, and more importantly, gives a higher transformation rate than the current available methods of flax transformation.In summary, inflorescences of flax were dipped in a solution of Agrobacterium carrying a binary vector plasmid (T-DNA fragment plus the Linum Insertion Sequence, LIS-1) for 1 - 2 min. The plants were laid flat on their side for 24 hr. Then, plants were maintained under normal growth conditions until the next treatment. The process of dipping was repeated 2 - 3 times, with approximately 10 - 14 day intervals between dipping. The T1 seeds were collected and germinated on soil. After approximately two weeks, treated progenies were tested by direct PCR; 2 - 3 leaves were used per plant plus the appropriate T-DNA primers. Positive transformants were selected and grown to maturity. The transformation rate was unexpectedly high, with 50 - 60% of the seeds from treated plants being positive transformants. This is a higher transformation rate than those reported for Arabidopsis thaliana and other plant species, using floral-dip transformation. It is also the highest, which has been reported so far, for flax transformation using other methods for transformation.     

灰绿藜液泡膜焦磷酸酶基因（CgVP1）过表达提高拟南芥的耐盐性。

克隆获得包含完整开放阅读框（0RF）的灰绿藜液泡膜焦磷酸酶基因（CgVP1）cDNA序列,构建成基因表达载体pCAMBIA1301．1-CgVPl后,利用根癌农杆菌介导的花序浸染法转化拟南芥,再以抗性筛选方法获得了T3代纯合的转基因植株,经检测外源目的基因已经整合到拟南芥基因组中并能正常表达。分析结果表明,在拟南芥中过表达劬VP1基因后提高了植株抗盐胁迫的能力。