Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of scented geranium

A method is described for producing genetically transformed plants from explants of three scentedPelargonium spp. Transgenic hairy root lines were developed fromPelargonium spp leaf explants and microcuttings after inoculation withAgrobacterium rhizogenes strains derived from the agropine A4 strain. Hairy root lines grew prolifically on growth regulator-free medium. Transgenic shoots were regenerated from hairy roots and the plants have been successfully transferred to soil. The phenotype of regenerated plants has been characterized as having abundant root development, more leaves and internodes than the controls, short internodes and highly branched roots and aerial parts. Southern blot analyses have confirmed the transgenic nature of these plants.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Echinacea purpurea

Summary Echinacea purpurea seedlings were inoculated with several Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains in order to obtain hairy roots. Infection with A. rhizogenes strains LMG63 and LMG150 resulted in callus formation. Upon infection with strains ATCC 15834 and R1601 hairy roots were obtained. Opine detection confirmed transformation of E. purpurea. Comparative HPLC fingerprint analysis of the alkamides from natural plant source, control tissues, and transformed callus and roots indicated that transformed callus and hairy roots might be a promising source for continuous and standardized production of the dodeca-2E,4E,8Z,10E/Z-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide and related amides.Abbreviations HPLC high-pressure liquid chromatography - MS Murashige and Skoog culture medium     

发根农杆菌介导的菠菜毛状根遗传转化体系的建立

发根农杆菌(Agrobacterium rhizogenes)侵染植物后可诱导植物产生毛状根。菠菜(Spinacia oleracea)是常见的食用蔬菜, 目前尚未见菠菜毛状根的研究报道。经筛选得到适合诱导菠菜毛状根的发根农杆菌菌株LBA9402, LBA9402侵染菠菜外植体茎后, 毛状根的诱导率最高可达16%。菠菜毛状根呈白色, 具有丰富的根毛, 能在无外源激素的固体培养基上快速增殖生长。通过诱导菠菜毛状根产生愈伤组织并进行分化, 获得了菠菜毛状根的再生植株, 再生率为8%。此外, LBA9402可将含有Ri质粒的T-DNA和携带外源GFP基因的Ti质粒T-DNA共同导入外植体中。PCR检测和荧光显微观察结果显示, rolB及GFP基因在菠菜毛状根基因组中稳定表达, 共转化频率为50%。     

发根农杆菌介导的菠菜毛状根遗传转化体系的建立

发根农杆菌(Agrobacterium rhizogenes)侵染植物后可诱导植物产生毛状根。菠菜(Spinacia oleracea)是常见的食用蔬菜, 目前尚未见菠菜毛状根的研究报道。经筛选得到适合诱导菠菜毛状根的发根农杆菌菌株LBA9402, LBA9402侵染菠菜外植体茎后, 毛状根的诱导率最高可达16%。菠菜毛状根呈白色, 具有丰富的根毛, 能在无外源激素的固体培养基上快速增殖生长。通过诱导菠菜毛状根产生愈伤组织并进行分化, 获得了菠菜毛状根的再生植株, 再生率为8%。此外, LBA9402可将含有Ri质粒的T-DNA和携带外源GFP基因的Ti质粒T-DNA共同导入外植体中。PCR检测和荧光显微观察结果显示, rolB及GFP基因在菠菜毛状根基因组中稳定表达, 共转化频率为50%。     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of soybean to study root biology

This protocol is used to induce transgenic roots on soybean to study the function of genes required in biological processes of the root. Young seedlings with unfolded cotyledons are infected at the cotyledonary node and/or hypocotyl with Agrobacterium rhizogenes carrying the gene construct to be tested and the infection sites are kept in an environment of high humidity. When the emerged hairy roots can support the plants, the main roots are removed and the transgenic roots can be tested. Using this method, almost 100% of the infected plants form hairy roots within 1 month from the start of the experiments.     

纤维植物罗布麻发根的诱导及植株再生

利用3种发根农杆菌(LBA9402.R601,和R1000)转化纤维植物罗布麻无菌种子苗的根茎叶不同外植体部位,首次诱导其生成发根并实现了直接由发根途径的植株再生.罗布麻发根诱导与所用的发根农杆菌菌株,外植体部位及光周期密切相关.发根农杆菌LBA9402感染罗布麻的根外植体,实现了最高转化率达100%.与LBA9402及R601相比,被发根农杆菌R1000感染的根外植体适合在黑暗环境下培养.其诱导生成的发根密度可达平均每个外植体22条.在不加激素的1/2 MS培养基上,LBA9402和R601诱导产生的发根可以诱导生成不定芽,不定芽诱导率达20%.不定芽切下后,在不加激素的1/2 MS培养基上2周内可以诱导生根.通过聚合酶链式反应(PCR)对发根及再生植株进行了鉴定,证明发根农杆菌的T-DNA插入了植物的基因组.为罗布麻的分子育种建立了稳定的转化及再生体系,为下一步通过转入外源基因改善其农艺性状奠定了基础.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum

Background

Plants within the Orobanchaceae are an agriculturally important group of parasites that attack economically important crops to obtain water and nutrients from their hosts. Despite their agricultural importance, molecular mechanisms of the parasitism are poorly understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We developed transient and stable transformation systems for Phtheirospermum japonicum, a facultative parasitic plant in the Orobanchaceae. The transformation protocol was established by a combination of sonication and acetosyringone treatments using the hairy-root-inducing bacterium, Agrobacterium rhizogenes and young seedlings. Transgenic hairy roots of P. japonicum were obtained from cotyledons 2 to 3 weeks after A. rhizogenes inoculation. The presence and the expression of transgenes in P. japonicum were verified by genomic PCR, Southern blot and RT-PCR methods. Transgenic roots derived from A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation were able to develop haustoria on rice and maize roots. Transgenic roots also formed apparently competent haustoria in response to 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), a haustorium-inducing chemical. Using this system, we introduced a reporter gene with a Cyclin B1 promoter into P. japonicum, and visualized cell division during haustorium formation.

Conclusions

We provide an easy and efficient method for hairy-root transformation of P. japonicum. Transgenic marker analysis revealed that cell divisions during haustorium development occur 24 h after DMBQ treatment. The protocols described here will allow functional analysis of genes involved in plant parasitism.     

Artemisia tilesii Ledeb hairy roots establishment using Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation

An efficient and rapid protocol for the establishment of Artemisia tilesii “hairy” root culture is reported. Leaf explants of aseptically growing plants were cocultured with Agrobacterium rhizogenes A4 wild strain or A. rhizogenes carrying the plasmids with nptII and ifn-α2b genes. Root formation on the explants started in 5–6 days after their cocultivation with bacterial suspension. Prolongation of explant cultivation time on the medium without cefotaxime led to stimulation of root growth. The effects of sucrose concentration as well as of the levels of synthetic indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and native growth regulator Emistim on the stimulation of A. tilesii “hairy” root growth were studied. Maximum stimulating effect both for the control and for transgenic roots was observed in case of root cultivation on the media supplemented with IBA—up to 7.95- and 9.1-fold biomass increase, respectively. Cultivation on the medium with 10 μl/L Emistime has also led to the control roots growth stimulation (up to 2.75-fold). Emistime at 5 μl/L concentration led to 5.46-fold mass increase in only one “hairy” root line. Higher sucrose content (40 g/L) stimulated growth of two hairy root lines but had no effect on growth of the control roots.     

Sonication-assisted Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Verbascum xanthophoeniceum Griseb. for bioactive metabolite accumulation

An efficient protocol for the establishment of transformed root culture of Verbascum xanthophoeniceum using sonication-assisted Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation is reported. Only 10 days after the inoculation with A. rhizogenes ATCC 15834 and 45 s ultrasound exposure, hairy roots appeared on 75% of the Verbascum leaves. Ten hairy root lines were isolated, although only half of them were free of bacterial contamination and started growing when excised from mother explants. The transgenic nature of the most vigorously growing hairy root clones (VX1 and VX6) was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. Under submerged cultivation both hairy root clones accumulated high biomass amounts (12.8 and 14.3 g L⁻¹, respectively) and significant amounts of bioactive phenylethanoid glycoside verbascoside (over 6-times more than in mother plant leaves). LC-APCI-MS analyses confirmed verbascoside accumulation in hairy root clones along with three other phenylethanoid glycosides (forsythoside B, leucosceptoside B and martynoside) and an iridoid glycoside aucubin. This is the first report on the induction of hairy roots of Verbascum plants.     

发根农杆菌诱导桑树毛状根体系的建立

应用发根农杆菌ACCC10060,以直接接种和共培养2种方法侵染桑树10 d龄子叶,并将2种处理的外植体分别接种于MS+AS(乙酰丁香酮,100 μmol/L)的平板,暗培养2 d后转接至MS+CS(头孢霉素,200 mg/L)平板培养3周,每3 d转接1次以除去其中所含的发根农杆菌菌体,结果2种侵染方法均成功诱导桑树产生毛状根,诱导效率分别为14%和17%.在无激素MS培养基上离体培养除菌后的毛状根,呈现旺盛的生长态势和典型的发状根结构特点.CTAB法提取毛状根基因组并进行PCR检测,结果扩增出了423 bp的rolB基因片段,表明Ri质粒的T-DNA已经成功整合到桑树的基因组中.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation and plant regeneration of four Gentiana species

Shoots of micropropagated Gentiana acaulis, G. cruciata, G. lutea, and G. purpurea were inoculated with suspensions of Agrobacterium rhizogenes cells, strains ATCC 15834 or A4M70GUS. Adventitious roots appeared at the sites of inoculation in all 4 species. Root tips were excised and cultured on growth regulator-free media for 2-6 years. They exhibited very high branching and plagiotropism. Spontaneous bud initiation occurred in roots of G. cruciata. Roots of G. lutea, G. acaulis and G. purpurea were cultured on media with high kinetin concentration, which induced the formation of friable callus tissues. Only in G. purpurea were these calluses organogenic. Regenerated shoots of G. cruciata and G. purpurea gave rise to plants, that displayed the typical phenotypes of A. rhizogenes-transformed plants: short internodes and rolled leaves. In the roots of G. acaulis and G. cruciata, transformed with A. rhizogenes A4M70GUS, a positive reaction with X-gluc indicated the activity of β-glucuronidase. The DNA extracted from hairy roots and from the roots of transgenic plants hybridized with the appropriate genomic probes in Southern blotting. This is taken as evidence of the stable genetic transformation in the 4 Gentiana species. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Brassica oleracea var. sabauda and B. oleracea var. capitata

Agrobacterium rhizogenes A4M70GUS-mediated transformation of Savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. sabauda) and two local lines of cabbage (B. oleracea L. var. capitata) was obtained using hypocotyl and cotyledon explants. The percentage of explants which formed roots was very high in all genotypes: 92.3 % in Savoy Gg-1, 64.4 % in cabbage P₂₂I₅, and 87.2 % in P₃₄I₅. Spontaneous shoot regeneration of excised root cultures grown on the hormone-free medium occurred in all three genotypes. In cabbage lines P₂₂I₅ and P₃₄I₅ shoot regeneration was higher (9.3 and 2.6 % respectively) than in Savoy cabbage Gg-1 (1.3 %). Transgenic nature of hairy root-derived plants was evaluated by GUS histological test and PCR analysis. All the tested cabbage shoots were GUS positive whilst in a Savoy cabbage GUS expression was registered only in 55 % of tested clones. PCR analysis demonstrated the presence of the GUS gene in regenerated shoot clones and in T₁ progeny.     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Rubia peregrina L.: in vitro accumulation of anthraquinones

An Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation system for Rubia peregrina L. has been established by co-cultivation of callus cultures or by direct infection of explants with A. rhizogenes LBA 9402 harbouring the binary vector pMON 9703 containing gus and npt-II genes as markers. The putative transformed roots were selected on medium containing kanamycin (25 mg l^-1). Antibiotic resistant root clones were subjected to histochemical analysis for the localisation of -glucuronidase activity. Polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm the presence of gus, npt-II and T _L border sequences in the transformed root clones. Spontaneous regeneration of shoots was observed from 30 day-old transgenic roots. Total anthraquinone and alizarin contents of transgenic root cultures were measured by spectrophotometry and by high performance liquid chromatography. The accumulation of total anthraquinones in transformed roots was found to be approximately 2-fold higher than that found in one year-old field grown roots (2.12±0.12 and 1.23±0.12 mg g^-1 dry weight, respectively). Alizarin was found to be the major anthraquinone in transformed root cultures and was found to be approximately 3-fold higher than in field grown roots.Abbreviations BA 6-benzyladenine - B5 Gamborg B5 medium - gus -glucuronidase gene - GUS -glucuronidase - HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - MS Murashige and Skoog medium - NAA -naphthalene acetic acid - npt-II neomycin phosphotransferase II gene - OD₆₀₀ optical density at 600 nm - PCR polymerase chain reaction - T _L left border sequence of T-DNA - vir D1 virulence D1 gene - YMB yeast mannitol broth     

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Taraxacum platycarpum and changes of morphological characters

Transformed hairy roots were efficiently induced from seedlings of Taraxacum platycarpum by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes 15834. Root explants produced transformed roots at a higher frequency (76.5±3.5%) as compared to stem (32.7±4.8%) or cotyledon (16.2±5.7%). Hairy roots exhibited active elongation with high branching of roots on growth regulator-free medium. The competence of plant regeneration from non-transformed adventitious roots and transformed hairy roots was compared. The frequency of adventitious shoot formation from transformed roots was much higher (88.5±9.8%) than that of non-transformed roots (31.7 ±9.5%) on hormone-free medium. Rooting of hairy root-derived adventitious shoots occurred easily on growth regulator-free medium but no rooting was observed on non-transformed shoots. The stable introduction of rol genes into Taraxacum plants was confirmed by PCR and Southern hybridization. Transgenic plantlets showed considerable differences in their morphology when compared to the corresponding wild-type (non-transgenic) plants. Plantlets formed from transformed roots had numerous fibrous roots with abundant lateral branches instead of the thickened taproots in non-transformed plants. The differences observed may reflect the modification of morphological root characters by introduction of rol genes.Communicated by M.R. Davey     

Production of transgenic plants via Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of Panax ginseng

 Hairy roots of Panax ginseng were obtained after root disks were infected with wild-type strain Agrobacterium rhizogenes 15834. Three lines of hairy roots with different pigmentation were selected. Embryogenic callus was induced on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 1.0 mg/l 2,4-D. The frequency of embryogenic callus formation was 37.4% in a line with red pigmentation. Somatic embryo development from embryogenic callus was efficiently achieved by lowering the concentration of 2,4-D (0.5 mg/l). After the germination of somatic embryos on medium with 10 mg/l GA₃, the embryos were transferred to 1/2-MS medium without GA₃. The transformed ginseng plantlets had an actively growing root system with abundant lateral roots. The phenotypical alteration of transformed ginseng plants might be valuable character for increasing root yield. Received: 27 March 1999 / Revision received: 18 May 1999 / Accepted 8 July 1999     

The Pinus halepensis Mill. forests in the central-eastern European Mediterranean basin

The Pinus halepensis Mill. forest vegetation of the central-eastern European Mediterranean basin (France, Italy, Croatia, Albania, Greece) is described here. This study was carried out considering published and unpublished phytosociological data, with the organisation of a systematic classification (syntaxonomic scheme) of the order Pinetalia halepensis according to the principal floristic variations, at multiple spatial scales and according to the physiognomic–structural, floristic, ecological and biogeographical characteristics. Five alliances and 25 associations are recognised.     

Production of transgenic Aralia elata regenerated from Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformed roots

Transgenic hairy roots were induced from petiole and root segments of in vitro plant Aralia elata, a medicinal woody shrub, after co-cultivation with A. rhizogenes ATCC 15834. The percentage of putative hairy root induction from root segments was higher (26.7%) than petiole explants (10.0%). Hairy roots showed active production of lateral roots with vigorous elongation. Transgenic plants were regenerated from hairy roots via somatic embryogenesis. These plants had wrinkled leaves, short petioles and numerous lateral hairy roots. The RT-PCR analysis showed the expression of rol A, B, C, D, aux 1 and 2 genes differed between the transgenic lines. Endogenous IAA level was higher in transgenic than non-transgenic plants. Conclusively, transgenic hairy roots were developed for first time in A. elata and the transgenic hairy root lines showed distinct morphological growth pattern and gene expression.     

Paternal leakage of mitochondrial DNA inPinus

Summary We studied mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism in 11 parents and 125 seedlings of 23 controlled matings within and between jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and lodgepole pine (P. contorta Dougl.). A potential mitochondrial distinction between these two conifers was evident in the parental samples. Only maternal mitochondrial restriction fragments were observed in a majority of the seedlings, which is consistent with results from angiosperms and other members of the genusPinus L. However, we detected exclusively paternal mitochondrial DNA in six of the seedlings. These unusual seedlings were not attributable to heteroplasmy or contamination of the experimental material, indicating that mitochondrial inheritance was not strictly maternal. Paternal mitochondrial leakage inPinus may permit novel insights into the transmission genetics and evolution of organellar polymorphisms.