Regeneration of transgenic plants of Mexican lime from Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed tissues

Transgenic Mexican lime [Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swing] plants were regenerated from tissues transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain A4, containing the wild-type plasmid pRiA4 and the binary vector pESC4 with nos-npt II and cab-gus genes. Transgenic shoots were generated by two different approaches. The first approach used internodal stem segments cocultured with A. rhizogenes. These were placed onto regeneration medium containing Murashige and Skoog salts and B5 organic compounds supplemented with 8 g ⋅ l^–1 agar, 7.5 mg ⋅ l^–1 6-benzylaminopurine, 1.0 mg ⋅ l^–1 -naphthaleneacetic acid, 300 mg ⋅ l^–1 cefotaxime and 80 mg ⋅ l^–1 kanamycin as a selective agent, and incubated under continuous light at 25 °C. Under these conditions, 76% of the explants produced shoots directly with no hairy root phase, with a mean of 1.3 shoots per explant, and 88% of these shoots were genetically transformed as determined by β-glucuronidase (GUS) assays. In the second approach, segments of transformed roots (15 mm long) obtained from internodal stem segments cocultured with A. rhizogenes were cultured on the above regeneration medium under similar conditions. Forty-one percent of these transformed root segments produced adventitious shoots, with a mean of 2.2 shoots per explant and with 90% of shoots transformed. GUS activity was evident in the transformed roots and in all parts of both transformed shoots and regenerated plants. The presence of the npt II and rolB genes in the regenerated plants was confirmed by PCR analysis. The presence of the npt II gene in the regenerated plants was also confirmed by Southern blot. Using these transformation systems, more than 300 Mexican lime transgenic plants were obtained, 60 of which were adapted to growing in soil. Received: 15 March 1997 / Revision received: 30 December 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998