Application of sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in Chenopodium rubrum L

Abstract

Chenopodium rubrum belongs to the plant species in which standard Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedures remain inefficient. We demonstrate that the employment of sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (SAAT) effectively enhanced transient expression of GUS gene coding for b-glucuronidase in Chenopodium rubrum. Further the results indicated that the age of seedlings is one of the limiting factors affecting the potency of Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection. Histochemical detection of b-glucuronidase activity revealed that two-days-old seedlings were much more susceptible to infection than ten-days-old ones. According to our results SAAT technology could provide an efficient tool for obtaining stable transformants when applied to two-days-old seedlings of Chenopodium rubrum.