AGROBACTERIUM-TUMEFACIENS-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION OF ARTEMISIA-ANNUA L AND REGENERATION OF TRANSGENIC PLANTS

A transformation system was developed for Artemisia annua L. plants. L eaf explants from in vitro grown plants developed callus and shoots on medium with 0.05 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid and 0.5 mg/L N-6-benzyla denine after transformation with the C58C1 Rif(R) (pGV2260) (pTJK136) Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A concentration of 20 mg/L kanamycin was added in order to select transformed tissue. Kanamycin resistant shoots were rooted on naphthaleneacetic acid 0.1 mg/L. Polymerase chai n reactions and DNA sequencing of the amplification products revealed that 75% of the regenerants contained the foreign genes. 94% of the tr ansgenic plants showed a beta-glucuronidase-positive response.