THE GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN (GFP) AS A VITAL SCREENABLE MARKER IN RICE TRANSFORMATION

An engineered green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequo ra victoria was used to develop a facile and rapid rice transformation system using particle bombardment of immature embryos. The mgfp4 gene under the control of the 35s Cauliflower Mosaic Virus promoter produc ed bright-green fluorescence easily detectable and screenable in rice tissue 12-22 days after bombardment. Visual screening of transformed r ice tissue, associated with a low level of antibiotic selection, drast ically reduced the quantity of tissue to be handled and the time requi red for the recovery of transformed plants. GFP expression was observe d in primary transformed rice plants (T-0) and their progeny (T-1). We describe various techniques to observe GFP in vitro and in vivo. The advantages of this new screenable marker in rice genetic engineering p rogrammes are discussed.