Hairy Root as a Model System for Undergraduate Laboratory Curriculum and Research

Hairy root transformation has been widely adapted in plant laboratories to rapidly generate transgenic roots for biochemical and molecular analysis. We present hairy root transformations as a versatile and adaptable model system for a wide variety of undergraduate laboratory courses and research. This technique is easy, efficient, and fast making it an ideal tool for undergraduate teaching. Students in a biotechnology course successfully transformed soybean cotyledons with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain K599 during laboratory sessions. The students introduced the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene into soybean and observed hairy roots regeneration. After two weeks, 45% of the cotyledons developed roots. Of the roots that appeared after transformation, 55% expressed the GFP protein.