TRANSGENIC SWEET-PEPPER PLANTS FROM AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION

Fertile transgenic sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum) plants were regenerated at relatively high ratefrom various explants that wer e cocultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3111-SE harbour ing a plasmid that contains the cucumber mosaic virus coat protein (CM V-CP) gene. The rate of plant regeneration was found to depend on the types of explants cultured and the media used. Young leaves were most effective for bud induction and subsequent plant elongation while hypo cotyls were the most inefficient. Southern analysis of DNA isolated fr om putative transgenic plants revealed that 3 out bf 5 R(1) plant line s reacted positively with the CMV-CP gene. Western blot analysis of CM V-CP containing R(1) plants showed that two of them accumulated signif icant levels of the foreign gene product while the other two expressed it only to low levels. Thus, like many other dicotyledonous plant spe cies, sweet pepper can be transformed by A. tumefaciens and regenerate d into healthy, fertile plants that express foreign genes.