Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of three economically important potato cultivars using sliced internodal explants:: an efficient protocol of transformation

An efficient protocol has been developed for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of internodal explants derived from three economically important Solanum tuberosum genotypes, namely Bintje, Desiree and Kaptah Vandel, By combining the best treatments, this protocol yielded an average transformation rate of 90% of treated longitudinal cut internodal explants, Seven to nine shoots per explant were obtained. The importance of zeatin riboside (0.8 mg(-1) l(-1)) in the culture media, in controlling the development of highly organogenic micro-calli has been demonstrated. A total of 450 morphologically normal transgenic plants were regenerated. Stable integration and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by histochemical and molecular analyses. Short duration (7-8 weeks), high efficiency, genotype independence and low frequency of somaclonal variation make this system well suited for wider commercial applications of transgenic potato plants.