Ra. Bicknell et Nk. Borst, AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION OF HIERACIUM-AURANTIACUM, International journal of plant sciences, 155(4), 1994, pp. 467-470
An Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system, based on the neomycin
phosphotransferase II (NPTII) gene, is described for the apomictic pl
ant Hieracium aurantiacum. Integration of foreign DNA was confirmed by
Southern analysis and its expression demonstrated by assaying for NPT
II enzymatic activity. NPTII activity, which confers kanamycin resista
nce, was inherited by clonal seedlings of transformed plants. Growth o
f untransformed seedlings was inhibited by 20 mg/L kanamycin, while tr
ansformants continued to grow at 300 mg/L. The clarity of the response
, together with the convenience of screening at the seedling stage, ma
kes kanamycin resistance a valuable tool for quantifying reproductive
mechanisms in facultatively apomictic plants of this species.