Transgenic herbicide- and disease-tolerant carrot (Daucus carota L.) plants obtained through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

Transgenic carrot (Daucus carota L.) plants expressing a rice thaumatin-like protein (tlp), phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (bar) and the hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) genes were obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Petiole and hypocotyl segments of three carrot cultivars were used as the explant sources. Following infection, selection was achieved on Murashige and Skoog medium with 1 mg/l phosphinothricin or 25 mg/l hygromycin B, which was increased after 2 weeks to 10 mg/l phosphinothricin and 100 mg/l hygromycin B. The presence of the tlp and bar transgenes was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analyses, and the expression of the thaumatin-like protein was demonstrated by Western blot analysis. Among 45 primary transformants, 13 were selected for assessment of herbicide and/or disease tolerance. The transgenic plants showed varying levels of tolerance to the herbicide phosphinothricin, depending on the transformation events in different lines. Four transgenic lines also showed significantly enhanced tolerance to the foliar and root pathogen Botrytis cinerea or Sclerotinia sclerotiorum when inoculated under controlled environment conditions. Two lines had significantly enhanced tolerance to the herbicide phosphinothricin as well as to both pathogens. These results demonstrate the feasibility of introducing two potentially useful agronomic traits into carrot through genetic engineering.