RECOVERY OF TRANSGENIC PEANUT (ARACHIS-HYPOGAEA L) PLANTS FROM ELITE CULTIVARS UTILIZING ACCELL(R) TECHNOLOGY

Transgenic plants of Florunner and Florigiant, two of the most widely cultivated peanut cultivars in the USA, have been developed using the ACCELL(R) gene delivery method. Shoot meristems of mature embryonic axes were bombarded with gold beads coated with DNA encoding beta-glucuronidase (gus), phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (bar), and tomato spotted wilt virus-nucleocapsid protein (tswv-np) genes. Transgenic shoots were identified by screening for GUS activity, and independent transformants were recovered from both cultivars. Molecular analysis of two of these transformants in R(0) and R(1) generations demonstrated the stable integration of the foreign genes into the plant genome. One transgenic plant had one to two copies of the genes integrated into the genome of its progeny, whereas the other had multiple copies. Gus and bar genes exhibited predictable segregation ratios in the R(1) and R(2) generations and were genetically linked. Integration of the bar gene conferred resistance to BASTA(TM), a wide-spectrum herbicide, applied at 500 p.p.m. of active ingredient. Resistance of the transgenic plants to tomato spotted wilt virus is currently being tested under greenhouse conditions. The ACCELL(R) particle bombardment system is expected to be effective for transformation of a wide variety of commercial peanut cultivars.