AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION OF PLUM (PRUNUS-DOMESTICA L) HYPOCOTYL SLICES AND REGENERATION OF TRANSGENIC PLANTS

Plum plants were regenerated from hypocotyl segments derived from the embryonic axes of ungerminated seeds stored for up to six months at 4-degrees-C. Shoots were produced in 45 percent of the explants with an average of 8 shoots per explant. This regeneration system was used for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with plasmids containing genes for neomycin phosphotransferase (NPTII) and beta-glucuronidase (GUS). Approximately 25 percent of the explants produced shoots on regeneration medium in the presence of antibiotics, and 30 percent of these could be rooted. Putative transgenic plants expressed NPTII and GUS activity, and Southern analyses demonstrated integration of T-DNA into the plum genome.