REGENERATION OF PLANTS FROM PEACH EMBRYO CELLS INFECTED WITH A SHOOTY MUTANT STRAIN OF AGROBACTERIUM

Immature 'Redhaven' peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] embryos were infected with a shooty mutant strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, tms328::Tn5, which carries an octopine-type Ti plasmid with a functional cytokinin gene and a mutated auxin gene. Shoots were regenerated from embryo-derived callus that was initiated on MS medium lacking phytohormones. Shoots exhibited increased frequency of branching and were more difficult to root than the noninfected. Transcripts of the tms328::Tn5-cytokinin gene were detected using northern analyses of total plant RNA. Polymerase chain reaction of genomic DNA and cDNA resulted in amplification of DNA fragments specific for the cytokinin gene, as determined by restriction enzyme and Southern analyses. The concentrations of the cytokinins zeatin and zeatin riboside in the leaves of regenerated plants were on the average 51-fold higher than in leaves taken from nontransformed plants. None of the shoots or callus tissues were postive for octopine. The expression of the T-DNA encoded cytokinin gene promotes growth of peach cells in the absence of phytohormones, thus serving as a marker for transformation. In addition, this gene appears to promote morphogenesis without an auxin inductive step.