Transient and stable electrotransformations of intact black Mexican sweet maize cells are obtained after preplasmolysis

Summary When interested in plant cell transformation, the cell wall is often considered as a barrier to DNA transfer, which is only overcome by wounding or wall degrading enzymes. In this work, we demonstrate that cell plasmolysis before electropulsation is an efficient approach to DNA delivery into intact plant cells. Using such a method, transient expression (-glucuronidase and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) and stable expression (phosphinotricin acetyltransferase) of exogenous genes are obtained in intact black Mexican sweet maize cells.Abbreviations BMS cells Black Mexican Sweet cells - GUS -glucuronidase - CAT chloramphenicol acetyltransferase - PAT Phosphinotricin acetyltransferase - MS Murashige and Skoog - PCV packed cell volume - 4-MU and 4-MUG 4-methylumbelliferone and 4-methylumbelliferyl-glucuronide - BSA bovine serum albumin - TTC triphenyl tetrazolium chloride