Fusion of Agrobacterium and E. coli spheroplasts with Nicotiana tabacum protoplasts - Direct gene transfer from microorganism to higher plant

Techniques in plant molecular biology--progress and problems

Progress in plant molecular biology has been dependent on efficient methods of introducing foreign DNA into plant cells. Gene transfer into plant cells can be achieved by either direct uptake of DNA or the natural process of gene transfer carried out by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium. Versatile gene-transfer vectors have been developed for use with Agrobacterium and more recently vectors based on the genomes of plant viruses have become available. Using this technology the expression of foreign DNA, the functional analysis of plant DNA sequences, the investigation of the mechanism of viral DNA replication and cell to cell spread, as well as the study of transposition, can be carried out. In addition, the versatility of the gene-transfer vectors is such that they may be used to isolate genes not amenable to isolation using conventional protocols. This review concentrates on these aspects of plant molecular biology and discusses the limitations of the experimental systems that are currently available.

Genetic transformation in two potato cultivars with T-DNA from disarmed Agrobacterium

Derivatives of potato (Solanum tuberosum cv.'s 'Maris Bard' and 'Desiree') transformed with disarmed T-DNA from genetically engineered Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains were isolated. The transformed plants were recovered from shoot-forming tumours induced by infection of wounds with mixedcultures of shoot-inducing A. tumefaciens strains T37 and either Agrobacterium strain LBA1834(pRAL1834), (Hille et al. 1983) or LBA4404(pBIN6; pRAL4404), (Bevan 1984). Two small-scale feasibility experiments gave at least four 'Maris Bard' plants transformed with pRAL1834 T-DNA and two 'Desiree' plants with pBIN6 T-DNA. The transformed 'Maris Bard' plants were morphologically abnormal and highly aneuploid. This was probably an unfortunate side-effect of a tissue culture-step introduced to promote the efficiency of shoot regeneration. The transformed 'Desiree' plants, in contrast, were isolated without promoting additional shoot-growth. They were morphologically normal, contained 47 and the euploid 48 chromosomes per cell respectively and had improved growth on media containing kanamycin.

Shoot regeneration of mesophyll protoplasts transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, not achievable with untransformed protoplasts

Alternative methods for shoot regeneration in protoplast derived cultures were developed in Nicotiana paniculata and Physalis minima. In both species protoplast derived callus is not regeneratable to shoots by conventional methods, e.g. hormone treatment. Leaf discs and stem segments of N. paniculata and P. minima were incubated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens "shooter" strains harbouring pGV 2215 or pGV 2298 or wildtype strain B6S3. After 36 h of co-incubation protoplasts were prepared. (Leaf disc and stem segment cloning). Co-cultivation experiments were also undertaken with protoplasts of both species. Transformed clones, characterized by their hormone independent growth and octopine production, could be isolated after about two months. Transformation frequencies of "leaf disc and stem segment cloning" and co-cultivation experiments varied from 5×10(-3) to 5×10(-5). After about one year of cultivation on hormone-free culture medium, shoots could be recovered from colonies of N. paniculata, transformed by the strain harbouring pGV 2298. In protoplast derived colonies of P. minima, shoot induction was obtained only after transformation by bacteria carrying pGV 2215. This demonstrates the importance of the particular "shooter" mutant, as well as the response of the host plant. Transformed shoots of P. minima produced octopine, whereas octopine production in transformed shoots and callus of N. paniculata was undetectable after one year of cultivation, though T-DNA was still present in the plant genome. Transformed shoots of N. paniculata and P. minima do not produce any roots. Shoots of N. paniculata have an especially tumerous phenotype. Shoots of both species were successfully grafted to normal donor plants of N. tabacum.

Transformation of Solanum nigrum L. protoplasts by Agrobacterium rhizogenes

Solanum nigrum protoplasts were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium rhizogenes harboring agropine-type Ri plasmid (pRi15834). A large number of transformed calli were obtained on Murashige and Shoog's (MS) medium lacking plant growth regulators. Frequency of transformation was about 3.5×10(-3). In most of the calli, hairy roots appeared on MS medium without plant growth regulator. When the hairy roots were cut into segments and subcultured on MS medium lacking plant growth regulators, calli were readily formed. Plantlets were regenerated by transferring those calli to MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l zeatin and 0.2 mg/l naphthaleneacetic acid. Frequency of plant regeneration was about 70%.

Fate of selectable marker DNA integrated into the genome of Nicotiana tabacum

To compare the effects of different transformation methods on the integration behavior and structural stability of integrated foreign genes in plant cells, tobacco protoplasts were transformed with Escherichia coli plasmid pLGV2103neo DNA using the Ca phosphate DNA coprecipitation technique. Parallel transformations were done by cocultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the Ti plasmid derivatives pGV3850::2103neo or pGV3850::1103neo. A comparison of the fine structure of the integrated donor DNA obtained by direct gene transfer and by cocultivation indicates that the donor DNA in cells transformed by the former technique undergoes structural changes and concatemerizations, while the DNA integrated by the latter procedure is often unaltered. The cotransformed nopaline synthase gene, which is present in the donor Ti plasmid DNA, was inactivated in two out of nine cases. Once integrated, the arrays of selectable marker DNA appear to be structurally stable under different cell culture and selection conditions, as well as after genetic transmission.

Further evidence for the transformation ofVinca rosea protoplasts byAgrobacterium tumefaciens spheroplasts

Protoplasts ofVinca rosea were transformed by spheroplasts ofAgrobacterium tumefaciens harboring nopalinetype Ti plasmids according to the procedure of Hasezawa et al. (1981). These transformants frequently differentiated tracheids, but further differentiation to teratomata has not so far been observed. Transformation was confirmed by the improved detection of nopaline synthase, where the sensitivity and specificity of the enzyme reaction was increased by employing(14)C-α-ketoglutaric acid and(3)H-arginine as substrates. The nopaline synthase activity was identified by the comigration of these two radioisotopes in the cnromatogram. Furthermore, the T-DNA structure of one of these transformants was examined by Southern hybridization according to Thomashow et al. (1980) and compared with that ofVinca rosea crown gall.

Crown gall transformation of tobacco callus cells by cocultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Incubation of cells from squashed tobacco callus tissue with virulent Agrobacterium tumefaciens leads to the production of cells displaying a crown gall phenotype.