TRANSFORMATION OF RHODODENDRON SPP USING AGROBACTERIUM-TUMEFACIENS WITH A GUS-INTRON CHIMERIC GENE

The five Rhododendron cultivars, 'America', 'Catawbiense grandiflorum roseum', 'Madame Carvalho', 'Mars' and 'Nova Zembla' were used for tra nsformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying T-DNA with the gusA gene encoding beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene and the neomycin phosphotr ansferase II gene as a selectable marker gene. The GUS reporter gene w as successfully transferred into all five cultivars as indicated by fl uorimetric staining, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot analysis. Some primary transformants appeared to be chimeric as both GUS expression and GUS nucleotide sequences were lost during vegetativ e propagation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.