Genomic changes in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants produced by infecting calli with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

The occurrence of genomic changes in transgenic rice plants produced by inf ecting calli with Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been verified by molecular tools. The AFLP and RAPD analysis of ten non-transgenic and ten transgenic plants showed genomic homo geneity among controls and verified genomic chan ges within the transgenic population. The comparison of data produced in th is and in previous analyses of transgenic rice populations obtained with di fferent transformation approaches showed that transgenic rice produced by A . tumefaciens treatment is characterised by fewer genomic changes than plan ts produced via protoplast treatment, but far more than those produced with particle bombardment or cell electroporation. From a practical point of vi ew, none of the rice transformation protocols avoid genomic changes. The us e of the ones that result in the lowest level of genomic modification may c onsiderably reduce somaclonal variation in the selected transgenic plants.