Determination of Threshold Concentration of Kanamycin to Transfer Gene in Cumin

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is an annual plant belonging to the Apiaceae family is one of the oldest and economically most important medicinal spices. This study was conducted to determination of threshold kanamycin concentration in cumin for the purpose of gene transfer in a completely randomized design with three replications. Percentage of regenerated plants was recorded to study kanamycin effect. Results of analysis of variance under different concentrations of kanamycin indicated that there were significant differences between the concentrations at level 0.05. The results of mean comparison of different concentrations of kanamycin also indicated significant differences between them and categorized them in terms of their impact on growth and regeneration of cumin into four groups. The results of the experiment showed that the maximum regenerated plants were observed in the treatments of control, 50 and 100 mg/l kanamycin and the minimum regenerated plants were observed in concentrations of 250 and 300 mg/l kanamycin. Results demonstrated which in compared to other plants in cumin was required high concentration of kanamycin for selection. Generally, result suggested that kanamycin antibiotic can be used for selection of transgenic tissues of cumin in gene transfer programs.