In Vitro and Inplanta Agrobacterium Tumefaciens - Mediated Transformation of Arabidopsis Thaliana

Cell transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. with Agrobacterium tumefaciens (LBA4404 strain) was performed in two ways: in vitro by the transformation of root and stem explants and inplanta by the transformation of whole plants in the green­ house. Agrobacterium contained the binary plasmid pBI121 or its constructs with the fragments of carrot DC-8 promoter. The results show that transformation efficiency in vitro is influenced by the age and type of explant. It was not possible to induce transgenic calli on explants of 5 week old Arabidopsis roots, although it was possible on explants of 3 week old roots. Although green calli grew on Arabidopsis stem explants, transgenic shoots did not de­ velop. When using transformation in vitro, from seed to mature primary transformant it took 15 to 16 weeks and for in planta transformation it took 19 to 20 weeks.