TRANSGENIC CARAWAY, CARUM-CARVI L - A MODEL SPECIES FOR METABOLIC ENGINEERING

Regeneration in caraway was obtained via two different routes. Hypocot yls showed delayed shoot formation after a callus phase and at relativ ely low frequencies. In contrast, high-frequency, direct regeneration occurred when cotyledonary node explants were used. Transient expressi on of beta-glucuronidase was monitored after inoculation of both expla nt types with Agrobacterium tumefaciens AGL0(pMOG410). Gene transfer w as more efficient when using cotyledonary node explants. This explant type also proved to be the best for stable transformation resulting in transgenic plants. Several parameters determining regeneration and tr ansformation efficiency were tested. The percentage of explants giving one to numerous transgenic plants could be as high as 13%. This syste m for the rapid production of many transgenic caraway plants opens up possibilities for studying metabolic engineering with this crop.