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Genetic transformation of Populus trichocarpa genotype Nisqually-1: A functional genomic tool for woody plants.

Song J, Lu S, Chen ZZ, Lourenco R, Chiang VL

Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Xibeiwang, Haidian District, Beijing 100094, P.R. China; Forest Biotechnology Group, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.

We report here the Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Nisqually-1, a Populus trichocarpa genotype whose genome was recently sequenced. Several systems were established. Internodal stem segments from vigorously growing greenhouse plants are the most amenable explants to transformation. For the most efficient system, approximately 40% of the stem segments infected with pBI121-containing Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 produced transgenic calli, as confirmed by GUS staining. Regeneration efficiency of independent transgenic plants was approximately 13%, as revealed by genomic Southern analysis. Some transgenic plants were produced in as short as five months after co-cultivation. This system may help facilitate studies of gene functions in tree growth and development at a genome level.

Published 4 October 2006 in Plant Cell Physiol.
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