Regeneration of transgenic plants of Prunus armeniaca containing the coat protein gene of plum pox virus

• Published in: Plant cell reports 1992-02, Vol.11 (1), p.25-29
• Main Authors: LAIMER DE CAMARA MACHADO, M, DA CAMARA MACHADO, A, KATINGER, H, HANZER, V, WEISS, H, REGNER, F, STEINKELLNER, H, MATTANOVICH, D, PLAIL, R, KNAPP, E, KELTHOFF, B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic engineering; Genetic technics; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Transgenic animals and transgenic plants; Transgenic plants
• ISSN: 0721-7714; 1432-203X
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00231834

A system was developed which allows the transfer of foreign genes into apricot cultivars. We report the transformation and regeneration of Prunus armeniaca plants with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 containing various binary plasmids, pBinGUSint, carrying the marker gene ß-glucuronidase (GUS) and pBinPPVm, carrying the coat protein gene of Plum Pox Virus (PPV). The marker gene GUS was used for optical evaluation of the efficiency of the transformation system. The coat protein gene of PPV was used to introduce coat protein mediated resistance against one of the most important pathogens of stone fruit trees in Europe and the whole Mediterranean area. This is the first report of the successful integration of a viral coat protein gene into a fruit tree species, opening a new perspective on the control of the disease.