AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION WITH ROL GENES OF LILIUM LONGIFLORUM THUNB.

An Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for Lilium longiflorum Thunb cultivar ‘Snow Queen’ has been developed.
The embryogenic calli derived from flower styles and pedicels, were inoculated and co-cultivated for 7 days with a cell suspension of A. tumefaciens LBA4404 harbouring the binary vector pBin19 containing the nptII gene for Km resistance driven by nos promoter and the T-DNA restriction fragment EcoRI 15, encompassing ORFs 10, 11 and 12 corresponding to rol A, B and C respectively, excised from Agrobacterium rhizogenes pRi 1855. Transgenic shoots, regenerated on selection medium and control plants, were easily micropropagated, rooted, and transferred to soil.
As expected, all the transgenic clones showed phenotypic variability.
Southern analysis of 3 transformants indicated the insertion of rol genes in plant genome.
In general the transformed plants showed altered ornamental traits such as dwarfness and early flowering which are highly desirable.
These new genotypes can be considered innovative products.
The transformation/regeneration system discussed in the paper has several desirable features and allows the indroduction of useful genes in Lilium longiflorum genome.