Kalanchoe blossfeldiana plants expressing the Arabidopsis etr1-1 allele show reduced ethylene sensitivity

• Published in: Plant cell reports 2008-04, Vol.27 (4), p.729-737
• Main Authors: Sanikhani, Mohsen, Mibus, Heiko, Stummann, Bjarne M, Serek, Margrethe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agrobacterium; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - genetics; Alleles; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cell Biology; Cultivars; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Ethylenes - metabolism; Ethylenes - pharmacology; Flowers; Flowers - drug effects; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - microbiology; Flowers - physiology; Gene Dosage; Genetic Transformation and Hybridization; Kalanchoe; Life Sciences; Petunia; Petunia - drug effects; Petunia - genetics; Petunia - microbiology; Petunia - physiology; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism; Plant Growth Regulators - pharmacology; Plant Sciences; Plants, Genetically Modified - drug effects; Plants, Genetically Modified - microbiology; Plants, Genetically Modified - physiology; Receptors, Cell Surface - genetics; Receptors, Cell Surface - metabolism
• ISSN: 0721-7714; 1432-203X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00299-007-0493-6

Transgenic Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln. with reduced ethylene sensitivity in flowers was obtained by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation using the plasmid pBEO210 containing the mutant ethylene receptor gene etr1-1 from Arabidopsis thaliana under the control of the flower-specific fbp1-promoter from Petunia. Three ethylene-resistent T0 lines, 300, 324 and 331, were selected and analyzed for postharvest-performance and morphological characteristics. Line 324 was found to be infertile and only slightly less ethylene-sensitive than control-plants, but lines 300 and 331 had significantly increased ethylene-resistance and were fertile. These two lines were analyzed for copy-number of the etr1-1 gene by Southern blotting and were crossed with the ethylene-sensitive cultivar 'Celine' to create T1 progeny. Line 300 contains two T-DNA copies per nucleus, one of which is rearranged, and these are unlinked according to segregation data from the crossing to 'Celine' and PCR-analysis of progeny plants. For control plants all flowers were closed after 2 days at 2 μl l⁻¹ ethylene, but for line 300 only 33% were closed after 10 days. Line 331 contains three T-DNA copies per nucleus and is more sensitive to ethylene than line 300. In the line 300 the etr1-1 gene was found by RT-PCR to be expressed in petals and stamens but not in carpels and sepals. Both lines 300 and 331, and their progeny, appear morphologically and physiologically identical to control plants except for the higher ethylene resistance. Line 300 and its progeny with only one T-DNA copy have very low ethylene sensitivity and may be useful in future breeding.