Biolistic Transformation of Elite Indica Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars Through Semi-Solid and Liquid Medium Selection Systems

• Published in: Journal of plant biochemistry and biotechnology 1997, Vol.6 (2), p.75-80
• Main Authors: Khanna, Harjeet, Raina, S. K, Srinivasulu, Kumar, K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: biolistics; cultivars; genes; glufosinate; Oryza sativa; plasmids; rice; seeds
• ISSN: 0971-7811; 0974-1275
• DOI: 10.1007/BF03263014

Following microprojectile mediated delivery of a plasmid construct (pAHC-25) encoding bar (bialophos resistance) gene into five-day-old scutellar calli derived from mature embryos, the effectiveness of selection procedure for bar-gene expressing tissue was compared for two indica rice cultivars (IR-64 and Karnal Local). While IR-64 transformants could be selected through the generally used semi-solid selection medium, the same procedure was not effective in the basmati cultivar Karnal Local. In the latter case, while lower concentrations (2–4 mg 1⁻¹) of the selective agent phosphinothricin (PPT) yielded only escapes, higher concentrations (6–8 mg l⁻¹) inhibited proliferation of transformed as well as untransformed sectors. For Karnal Local, a liquid medium based selection system was successfully utilized for recovering transformed sectors and, eventually, regenerants. The study demonstrates the generation of transformants of two elite indica cultivars using the environment-independent system of mature embryos from seeds.