Introduction of Foreign Genes into Tomato Protoplasts by Electroporation

The conditions required for the electroporation of a plasmidwhich harbored the gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase(CAT) into protoplasts from cultivated tomato leaves were optimizedat 666 or 7,000 V/cm (single discharge) using a 47-µFcapacitor in the presence of 10-100 µg DNA. The CAT genewas strongly expressed by when under the control of the promoterfor the 35S RNA from cauliflower mosaic virus and CAT activitywas detected in cells 10 days after electroporation. (Received July 28, 1988; Accepted March 23, 1989)